County reps demands for Sh350,000

By HUDSON GUMBIHI

County reps have insisted they will stay at home until their current salary is increased eight times.

During the week they remained adamant that they will adjourn their sittings at the County Assembly until their demand of getting a Sh350,000 salary is met.

They further threatened to paralyse the preparation of the Sh31 billion budget expected to be presented on June 30.

Minority leader Abdi Ibrahim Guyo maintained they will not return to work despite President Uhuru Kenyatta’s plea.

Uhuru had asked MPs, senators and county reps to accept their current pay because Kenya’s current wage bill is unsustainable.

But Guyo said: “We are not going back to work unless we are given what we are demanding.”

The county reps insist the Sh79,000 they earn is peanuts.

They claim, as state employees, they are entitled to a package and allowances that befits their status.

They said the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) was insensitive to their plight. SRC set the controversial salaries for county reps and lawmakers.

The county has 85 elected representatives with a majority supporting the call to have salaries increased.

They claimed they were usually drained to the last coin by wananchi presenting a myriad of problems.

“Unlike MPs, we are the first contact with the people who come to us for assistance. In fact, most wananchi are supportive of our course,” Guyo claimed.