House fight looms over MPs’ pay rise
Daily Nation
By PETER LEFTIE and KIMANI MWAURA
July 5 2010 at 21:00
Kenya's cabinet meets Tuesday over salary increase as ground set for campaign to protest legislators’ new perks
Kenyan MPs will be among the best paid legislators in the world if their latest bid to award themselves more money succeeds.
The politicians could paralyse government operations if Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta stands between them and their new super salaries.
Last week, the MPs voted for a generous salary award, which included a 100 per cent increase in sitting allowances, after amending the recommendations of a pay tribunal chaired by retired appellate judge Akilano Akiwumi.
The move has sparked outrage across the country, with teachers and civil servants, whose own pay rise has not been honoured, threatening to go on strike.
Lobby groups have also called for street protests. Mr Kenyatta has said there is no money to pay the MPs, setting the stage for a stand-off with the House.
Mr Kenyatta must bring three Bills legalising the increase, which slaps the taxpayer with an additional Sh1 billion a year in wage costs. MPs’ wages will cost Sh4.3 billion, up from Sh3.6 billion, if the increase is allowed.
Mr Kenyatta opposes the new pay, saying it is not included in the current budget.
There is an implied threat in the air that some MPs might try to shoot down the Finance Bill, the annual law that authorises the government to tax the public and spend the money.
If that happens, then the government will grind to a halt and a General Election may have to be called.
Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale, one of those who supports the proposed pay rise, said MPs will push for the approval when Mr Kenyatta tables amendments to the law that sets the remuneration for legislators.
“I look at the Finance Bill as representing the interests of the Kenyan people so I would advise my colleagues not to use it to blackmail or arm-twist Uhuru. I would advise that we wait for Uhuru to bring an amendment Bill to the National Assembly Salaries and Remuneration Act, because he must. It will not matter whether Uhuru or (President) Kibaki does not like them, they will become law within 14 days once Parliament passes them.”
The vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission, Mr Walter Nyambati, called for dialogue over the matter, but accused Mr Kenyatta of blackmailing MPs by publicly stating that he will not pay the new salaries.
“Shooting down the Finance Bill is not the solution. We should not blackmail each other. I don’t see why Uhuru cannot implement a report that has been passed by Parliament. In any case, there is no increment per se, all we have done is to cater for the tax.”
At Sh1.2 million a month, the Kenyan MPs stand to earn more than their counterparts in some of the world’s biggest economies.
Information from the House of Commons library, for example, reveals that Kenyan MPs will earn between Sh100,000 and Sh500,000 more than their counterparts in the United States, Singapore, Germany and France.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Public Health minister Beth Mugo and MPs Kabando wa Kabando, Martha Karua and Eugene Wamalwa, have vowed to join Mr Kenyatta in opposing the new perks on grounds that they are unreasonable.
President Kibaki is scheduled to chair a special Cabinet meeting Tuesday morning to discuss the new salaries. Whether or not the government will reject the MPs’ move is unclear.
The House of Commons library figures show the new salaries for Kenyan MPs place them only second to their counterparts in the UK, whose monthly pay currently stands at Sh2.1 million.
However, the cost of living index compiled by the international human resource consultancy, Mercer, placed Nairobi at position 88 in the list of the world’s most expensive cities, far behind London at position 17 and New York at 27.
In awarding themselves the new perks, MPs had argued that the increase was necessary given the rising cost of living in Kenya.
Kenya's cabinet meets Tuesday over salary increase as ground set for campaign to protest legislators’ new perks
Currently, members of the US Congress take home Sh1.1 million a month — a figure slightly lower than what the Kenyan MP stands to earn should the new perks be implemented.
Going by the cost of living in New York, the Sh1.1 million earned by a US congressman is barely enough for some of the luxuries enjoyed by his Kenyan counterpart such as personal assistants, drivers and bodyguards.
An MP in Singapore, a country rated as having the best quality of life in Asia and 11th overall in the world, earns Sh1,028,250 per month, almost Sh100,000 less than a Kenyan MP.
MPs in Germany earn Sh765,726 per month while in France they take home Sh582,000, just about half of what their counterparts in Kenya seek to pocket.
Kenyan MPs also stand to earn more than their counterparts in The Netherlands, Belgium and Finland, whose economies are more than 100 times bigger than Kenya’s.
The new salaries sought by Kenyan MPs are unmatched in the East African Community, with MPs in Uganda earning Sh583,000 and their counterparts in Tanzania taking home Sh466,000.
The Kenyan MPs argue that whereas they have been enjoying tax-free salaries, they will have to pay tax on their basic salaries and some allowances under the new regime.
