Civil Society: We will block pay talks

By Ally Jamah and Edwin Cheserek

Nairobi, Kenya: Civil Society groups have vowed to go to court to block any direct negotiations between elected leaders and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission with regard to their salaries and allowances.

Speaking in Nairobi on Sunday as the leaders continue to pile pressure on SRC to hike their pay, the groups said the proposed negotiations with SRC are illegal.

“We state categorically that SRC is a constitutional commission and not a trade union or a market for collective bargaining. Once the commission has gazetted the salaries of State officers, no one can challenge that, not even in the courts because they have exercised their constitutional mandate,” said Morris Odhiambo, President of the National Civil Society Congress.

He added: “SRC must not make the mistake of negotiating salaries with anybody since that will be acting unconstitutionally. That would also undermine its own independence of setting salaries.”

Tax arrears

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said recently that the Parliamentary Service Commission is in talks with the SRC on the possibility of increasing MPs’ pay.

Last year, NCSC secured a court order compelling MPs to pay all their tax arrears, which is being implemented by the Kenya Revenue Authority.

The Civil Society also called on the Serem team not to give in to pressure and intimidation by the leaders. Some MPs have threatened to disband SRC if it does not yield to their demands to scale up their “demeaning salaries”.

Others want the Serem team to be sent packing through amending the SRC Act or quashing of the Gazette notice that fixed their salaries.

NCSC’s Suba Churchil said the threats to disband SRC exposed the leaders’ ignorance about Constitution. He indicated that SRC cannot be disbanded or its mandate changed without a referendum.

He blamed the clamour for a pay rise among the leaders on the watering down of laws meant to vet leaders running for public office.

“The salaries for MPs and constitutional Commissions are still too high for the economy to bear and we ask SRC to slash them further down. What they are demanding, if implemented, would bankrupt the country” he said.

Sheikh Ahmed Ramadhan of Nubian Rights Forum said that it was shameful for leaders who have been in office for barely a month to begin agitating for higher salaries instead of embarking on development agenda for their people

He wondered why the leaders did not bother to find out the salaries they would be earning before running for their respective seats.

“The demands are a result of unrestrained and uncontrolled greed, corruption of morals and undignified worship of money. This is precisely what we got as a result of diluting the requirements of integrity for electoral convenience,” he said.

Meanwhile, members of County Assembly in the North Rift want their pay increased. The more than 50 ward representatives, who spoke in Uasin Gushu, termed their current pay as a pittance and said they would not relent in the quest to have it reviewed.

“This amount of Sh79,000 allocated by the SRC is too little,” Ramadhan Werambo, Kiplombe Ward Representative said. The leaders asked the public to support them in pushing for the increment.

“We want the issues on salaries to be addressed to enable us deliver services to the expectation of the people. In fact, the SRC should explain the rationale behind setting salaries for governors, MPs, and senators.”

Increased workload

Cheptiret Ward Representative Josphine Tireito echoed the sentiments, saying the salaries do not reflect the current economic situation.

“Several wards in some counties have been merged, which has increased our workload and making it expensive to run. We need to be compensated accordingly. I see most of resorting to other ways of making extra money to make ends meet in the event that our demands are not addressed,” she said.

Tireito said the salary of County Assembly members would reduce after tax forcing them to run private businesses on the side to sustain themselves.

SRC Chairperson Sarah Serem has maintained that the salaries would not be reviewed because of the run-away wage bill.