Iceberg
One MP, however, says mistresses are just the tip of the iceberg.
"I have a friend who spends a fortune buying the silence of two lasses and a couple of boys whom he had sexual rendezvous with," he says.
Apparently, the member swings both ways so while others pay for the silence of dubious business fixers, he is busy paying to silence his sex toys!
Another MP, however, bitterly complained about the hand-out culture, saying his salary, or the little that remains of it, is all dished out to constituents.
"Every time I go to my constituency, I come back no less than Sh50,000 poorer. From dishing out generously in countless funerals that only seem to prop up when I am there, to village elders making tributary visits to pledge allegiance and paying school fees for my campaignerâs children, I am a pauper even though my gross salary suggests that Iâm a millionaire," the MP laments. "It is like my family gets nothing from the pain of serving the public."
Survival tactics
A parliamentary reporter says that it is not out of the ordinary to see MPs eating and drinking on vouchers at the parliamentary cafeteria and employing common mwananchi survival tactics as early as the second week of the month.
"I have shared my packet of cigarettes at the chamberâs smoking zone countless times with members caught on lean times. I know a businessman who lent an MP Sh10,000 over three years ago. The mheshimiwa never picks his calls," says the reporter.
Celebrities
"Many of these guys have huge debts â bank loans for failed projects, mortgages, car loans, not to mention the cost supporting mistress and living like celebrities. At the end of the month, the brothers just have enough to feed their ârealâ families and probably fuel the car," he reveals.
A banker, who says some members even have problems servicing âsmallâ loans, supports this view.
