Senate Minority leader Aaron Cheruiyot on Tuesday, February 20, proposed the term length for senators to be extended from the normal five years to 10 over what he described as the need to ensure equality and fairness in Parliament.
While presenting the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report on the floor of the House, Cheruiyot questioned why senators earn the same level of salary as MPs despite holding different job descriptions.
He added that a senator has more responsibilities than an MP and hence the pay should reflect the same.
To correct this, Cheruiyot noted that the most fitting way to compensate the Senate is to extend the term length of a senator.
"There is a proposal on how to counterbalance Parliament. A senator earns as much as an MP although geographically, you represent a higher population than an MP. There are more responsibilities that we have and are exclusive to the senate as opposed to the MPs," he stated.
"There are good proposals that have been made and in which we can compensate the Senate. In other countries, the term for a senator is longer than that of others in lower Houses. There is the proposal to make the senate serve a longer term than the provided five years."
Data by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) show that senators and MPs earn a monthly salary of Ksh710,000. On the other hand, governors earn Ksh924,000 while deputy governors take home Ksh621,250.
The proposal seeks to have senators' terms extended to ten years for one term as opposed to the current five years.
The NADCO report was unveiled last year following deliberations by a bipartisan team led by National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichung'wah, on behalf of the government and Wiper's Kalonzo Musyoka, on behalf of Azimio.
The team failed to agree on two contentious issues including the removal of the 16 per cent Value Added Tax on fuel and scrapping of the Housing Levy.
Cheruiyot noted that other issues that were agreed upon include reconstituting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) panel, boundaries delimitation as well as outstanding constitutional matters such as the cost of living and implementation of the two-thirds gender rule.
"Aside from the NADCO report, we have attached various statutory instruments which will have to be considered individually. There are further policy propositions that we have decided on that as a committee we say that this doesn't require Parliament to do anything as we have sufficient laws to govern it," he noted.
Parliament is set to debate the NADCO report. The outcome of these deliberations may change the course of Kenya's political landscape.
