They should be released'

August 02 2007 at 07:39PM

By Robert Hummy

Nairobi - A Kenyan judge freed five activists on Thursday who were arrested during a protest against plans to reward members of parliament with big severance packages ahead of elections in December.

"The continued detention of the former director of Transparency International (TI) and others is illegal and a violation of their constitutional rights," Justice Onesmus Mutungi told a packed courtroom. "They should be released."

Police had failed in their duty to charge the suspects in court within 24 hours of their arrest on Tuesday, he added.

'Our MPs are thieves'
Mwalimu Mati, the former head of TI Kenya, was detained with four other activists as they led a march on parliament to protest at a proposed bill that would give legislators large grants before they contest the polls.

Police had said the demonstration was illegal and fired teargas to scatter dozens of participants who were blowing whistles and waving placards denouncing the parliamentarians.

Later on Thursday, a smaller number of protesters tried to gather near parliament again, chanting: "Our MPs are thieves."

They were chased away by police firing teargas.

"We are against the increased salaries of our MPs," said one of the demonstrators, Aska Kwamboka. "They are robbing us and we are fed up."

Kenya's legislators infuriated the public by quadrupling their salaries in 2003 as the first order of business.

Since then, they rarely have been able to raise the quorum of 30 out of 222 MPs, except when their own compensation has been up for debate. Under the proposed bill they would get 12.5 percent of their annual earnings, backdated to January 2003.

A typical member of parliament earns at least $12 000 (about R8 4840) a month, including generous allowances. By comparison, an average teacher in the east African country earns about $250 a month. (Additional reporting by Nicolo Gnecchi).