Shock as Parliament Unable to Pay Own Bills

Kenya Power (KP), on Friday, disconnected electricity at the Parliament Building in Nairobi due to accumulated unsettled bills.

Electricity was, however, restored on Monday afternoon after high-level intervention from the lawmakers who complained of delay by Parliament accountants, to disburse funds.

Aside from electricity, Treasury has not been prompt in payment of expenses and allowances for legislatures who consequently have failed to pay their Constituency staff.

"I can confirm to you that since July 1, we have not paid the salaries of our constituency staff. This is very serious. You can imagine when KP disconnects electricity to Parliament, do you know how big a security risk that poses to the institution?" asked Eldas MP Adan Kenan.

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, who is also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), on Monday stated that they held crisis talks with the Treasury to resolve the problem.

With a hefty budget of Sh28.28 Billion, PSC is tasked with handling salaries and allowances of both the National Assembly and Senate, and also deals with the general administration of the August house - a third of the money is used to pay the MPs' salaries and allowances. 

Mr Keynan, who also sits in the PSC, said that besides delay in payment, projects had also stalled due to lack of finances.