MPs sign secret petition for Sh1m tax-free salary and big allowances

Deputy President William Ruto talks with Emgwen MP Alex Kosgey during an induction workshop for lawmakers at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on Friday. The MPs want their salaries increased to the level enjoyed by lawmakers in the last Parliament. Photo/JENNIFER MUIRURI  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By CAROLINE WAFULA cwafula@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, April 12  2013 

IN SUMMARY

• Deputy President warns the move may be unpopular and could lead to strikes
• Legislators threaten to paralyse government operations if their demands are not met

Members of Parliament have started a new push to increase their salaries to the level enjoyed by lawmakers in the last Parliament.

The MPs signed a resolution asking the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) to restore the pay of the 10th Parliament and what was set by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission annulled.

The MPs have threatened to frustrate operations of government and its institutions if their request is ignored, terming the current salary structure an insult to the institution of Parliament.

They have piled up pressure on the PSC, which caters for their welfare, to push for their demand. They want the commission to get them a salary that “befits the status of an MP.”

Meeting in Nairobi on Thursday, the MPs also want to be exempted from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s pay structure.

Under the new salary structure, governors will earn Sh640,681 while senators and MPs will earn Sh532,500.

The MPs have signed a resolution that PSC will use to negotiate better terms with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

Among their options is that PSC negotiates to reinstate their perks to Sh851,000 which was paid to MPs in the last Parliament.

But speaking at a Jubilee parliamentary group meeting on Friday, Deputy President William Ruto advised lawmakers to be cautious on their agitation for salary increment.

Insiders at the meeting at Safari Park said Mr Ruto advised that the lobbying for pay was not good for the country given the state of the economy currently, adding that other workers were likely to follow suit.

However, Tiaty MP Asman Kamama said the current payslip of an MP was a shame. “We cannot even talk about it,” he said.

The matter elicited emotions at a closed door meeting that the legislators had at Safari Park meeting on Thursday evening.

After a day-long induction at the hotel, journalists and other “strangers” were ejected from the room where they were meeting.

Speaking to Saturday Nation, most of the MPs said the current salary was too little for an MP and threatened to do everything possible to overturn the decision by the Serem-led salaries team which sets the salaries of public servants, including crippling operations of government.

Sources in the meeting said the plan was to have the definition of a State officer amended to exclude them. The MPs are expected to hold a kamukunji (an informal meeting) with the Speaker on Thursday.