Members of County Assembly (MCAs) are now pressing for severance pay that could see taxpayers folk out billions to compensate them for the eight months that their term in office will be cut short.
Days after MPs made a budgetary demand of Sh 2.4 billion to compensate them, MCAs were yesterday maintaining that each of their 1450 members must be paid for the period they will be pushed out of office, without meeting the constitutionally stipulated five-year term.
The county legislators on Tuesday maintained that their five-year term as anchored in the Constitution under Article 177(4), ends on March 4, 2018, hence having elections in August would slash their term, and thus an entitled pay.
The MCAs, who are attending the Legislative summit in Mombasa, a forum bringing together Senators and the ward representatives, piled the pressure on Judiciary to expeditiously interpret the clause on the Constitution and give directions that the outgoing county legislators also be paid.
"The Constitution is very specific when it comes to the term of MCAs. More specific that the term of any other elected leaders in Article 177(4) and in law we have what we call legitimate expectations," said County Assemblies Forum (CAF) Chairman Johnson Osoi.
He added: "The term of office for these members’ lapses on March 4, 2018 and we have asked the relevant organs, especially the Judiciary to interpret this for us, but certainly if MPs and Senators are getting it, MCAs must have it".
According to the initial budget done by the parliamentary Service Commisision (PSC) Sh 1.9 billion of the Sh 47.6 billion had been factored to compensate the 349 MPs, while sh 410 million was to pay the 67 senators for the eight months.
It is however not clear if the severance pay is factored in the Sh 40.2 billion revised actual estimates from the PSC.
Devolution Cabinet Secretary, who represented President Uhuru Kenyatta in opening the Summit, had a difficult time convincing the MCAs that the best way to address the matter would be to form a committee that will negotiate on the pay.
The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
join