Kenyans unite against MPs’ greed for cash

A section of the Members of the National Assembly. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By JULIUS SIGEI jsigei@ke.nationmedia.com AND JUSTUS WANGA jwanga@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The presentation of the petition was received with loud foot thumping in the House, with all MPs who spoke supporting the motion.

nSharOutrage, dismay and public outcry Saturday met Thursday’s move by MPs to award themselves budgetary allocation for a huge salary increment.

Church leaders, civil society and constitutional commissions were unanimous that the move was against the spirit of the Constitution, which provided for an independent agency to set and review salaries for all State officials and that it was a slap in the face of burdened taxpayers facing harsh economic conditions.

The Sh24 billion budget, which experts say would nearly double their current pay, also gives each of them Sh7.1 million to buy a luxury car.

The presentation of the budget coincided with the tabling of a motion in Parliament by Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi seeking to disband the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), which reviews salaries of State officials.

The presentation of the petition was received with loud foot thumping in the House, with all MPs who spoke supporting the motion.

In what was seen as caving into the MPs’ demand, the salaries commission had last week written to the Clerk of the National Assembly Justin Bundi offering each of the 416 Senators and Members of Parliament a Sh5 million grant to buy new luxury cars in a deal that will leave a Sh2.08 billion hole in the Exchequer.

Leaders said if the MPs have their way, it will have far-reaching ramifications on the Constitution and the economy.

The Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution chairman Charles Nyachae said the law, under article 230, gives the Sarah Serem-led commission the mandate to set and review salaries for all State officers “which includes MPs as per Article 260.”
He warned that if MPs were allowed to dismantle the Constitution, it would lead to anarchy.

“It is up to all of us to protect the sanctity of the Constitution. I’m sure that is not what the people of Kenya want,” Mr Nyachae said, adding that the courts were there for the interpretation of the law in case of any misunderstanding.

And the Law Society of Kenya weighed in, terming the motion illegal and unconstitutional.

LSK chairman Eric Mutua told Saturday Nation that hope for the country now lay in the Speaker, the President and the Tribunal.

“First we hope that the National Assembly Speaker will find that Mr Linturi overreached his mandate and stop the debate,” Mr Mutua said.

He said even if the MPs succeeded in asking the President to form a tribunal, “no self-respecting judge will agree to their demands.”

He said SRC was a constitutional agency and could only be dissolved following a referendum as provided for in the Constitution.

“The commission cannot be disbanded for performing its constitutional mandate of harmonising salaries within the public sector,” he said.
The SRC pegged an MP’s salary at Sh532,000, down from Sh851,000 earned by members of the Tenth Parliament.

Mr Linturi argues that Ms Serem “violated, breached, infringed and threatened the Constitution” by reducing the MPs’ pay.

Mr Mutua called on the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko to investigate the conduct of Mr Linturi should the Speaker fail to reject the motion. “The DPP should probe Mr Linturi as his actions could amount to gross abuse of office and privileges,” the LSK chairman said.

He said Article 251 of the Constitution provided reasons that may send home a commissioner or holder of an independent body.

Not breached any law

“The major reasons include serious violation of the Constitution or any other law, gross misconduct, physical or mental incapacity, incompetency or bankruptcy,” Mutua said and added that the salaries commission had not breached any law.

Meanwhile, the Coalition for Constitution Implementation (CCI) has lined up drastic measures which, they hope, will stop MPs in their tracks.

CCI, a consortium of civil society groups, plans to make a peaceful procession to the urban and rural homes of MPs Mithika Linturi, Jakoyo Midiwo, Aden Duale and Gladys Nyasuna, who they singled out as being vocal in the clamour for higher pay.

“As a response to the arrogance of the MPs, CCI shall from Tuesday next week carry out peaceful processions to both rural and urban homes of Mithika Linturi, Aden Duale, Jakoyo Midiwo and Gladys Nyasuna as a means of piling pressure on the MPs to drop their arrogance,” the group said in a statement signed by convener Cidi Otieno and representatives of the Unga Revolution, Vie Foundation, Super Ethnic Minorities Rights Forum and Bunge la Mwananchi.

They asked Kenyans living close to them to join in the march.

“CCI takes issue with the MPs for openly disregarding the plight of Kenyans who elected them by calling Kenyans thieves to justify their lust for public coffers,” the group said.

They added that MPs also risked being recalled “en mass through popular mass action.”

They also met a team of young lawyers with a view to “instituting public interest litigation against each of the 349 MPs”.

“All Kenyans should call and send text messages to their MPs on Tuesday at 3pm as a means of expressing public rage on the looting tendency being exhibited by MPs,” they said.

They called on political parties to rein in their MPs to drop their appetite for public resources and instead call for more money to be sent to the counties.

John Cardinal Njue appealed to MPs to reflect on their deeds and lend an ear to the plight of suffering Kenyans.

Archbishop Eliud Wabukala of the Anglican Church of Kenya warned that succumbing to MPs’ demands would have a spiral effect as other public servants would begin the clamour for more money.

Father Vincent Wambugu, secretary-general of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, told MPs not to compare their pay with the previous Parliament’s as they were first time employees of the 11th Parliament.

“Their defence has always been the culture of handouts, but with devolved funds like CDF, they are not expected to dish handouts so to me even the Sh532,500 they earn right now is too much compared to the size of our economy,” he said.

The prelates were, however, in agreement that there was always room to review salaries of employees upwards during a period of economic boom, but not under the prevailing circumstances.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights acting chairperson Anne Ngugi said:

“The Constitution was promulgated only two years ago and we cannot allow ourselves to unravel it. If we allow them (MPs) to disband this crucial commission, God knows who is next and before long we shall be back to square one.” Mr Audi Ogada, chairman of the Kisumu Residents’ Voice, blamed the MPs’ behaviour on the lack of vetting that took place before they were nominated by parties to vie.

But Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi blamed the framers of the Constitution, who, he said, erred in giving the Serem Commission mandate over the Legislature.

“The commission was a mistake in the first place; its drafters disregarded the principal of separation of powers and while disbanding it may be a short-term solution, the entire constitutional framework should be looked into to avoid such conflicts in future,” he said.

Most of the MPs who spoke to Saturday Nation, were uncomfortable being quoted, saying it would attract criticism from the public.

Although he has not commented on the Thursday move by MPs, President Uhuru Kenyatta in his inaugural speech to the National Assembly expressed concern on the ever-increasing public wage bill due to hefty perks.

Public wage bill in check

“Today recurrent expenditure is reaching unsustainable levels, squeezing out resources meant for development. We must keep the public wage bill in check,” he said in what was seen as a disapproval of the MPs’ fight for more cash.

Mr Kenyatta said that in the current financial year, the estimated wage bill was Sh458 billion, which is over 12 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product).

“This is unsustainable and poses a serious threat to the funding of important development projects,” he said.

Leaders who voiced their criticism of MPs said they are looking up to the President to prevail on them to abandon their push.

A UNDP report of 2013 on Human Development ranks Kenya the 42nd most unequal country in the world.

The salaries commission had intimated that setting pay limits for public officers, the Exchequer would save at least Sh500 million monthly.