House teams set for a reshuffle... yes, because some MPs earn less

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU

The National Assembly will reshuffle the membership of House committees to shore up the earnings of at least 85 lawmakers.

The MPs set to benefit have been complaining they were made to sit in dormant committees that never meet, and therefore, they missed out on sitting allowances.

Majority Leader Aden Duale noted the disparity in earning as a key factor in the push for the reshuffle.

“We felt since there are members who are earning (more) because they are in many committees and members who are earning less because they are in one committee, we needed to do something. We felt the disparity to be discriminatory and unfair,” said Duale.

Any MP who sits in a departmental committee can get a minimum of Sh50,000 a week in sitting allowance.

But those who sit in other committees, whose meetings are irregular, end up with nothing. An MP is paid a gross amount of Sh5,000 per sitting in the House committees.

The changes in the committees had been scheduled for last week, but because of intrigues within the political parties and complaints by the MPs about where they had been moved to, the exercise was put on ice.

The list had already been tabled in the House, and Duale initiated debate on the names, and he was seconded by the Majority Whip Katoo ole Metito.

However, Minority Leader Francis Nyenze protested the agreed list had been altered.