MPs' claims on House allowances untrue

Salaries and Remuneration commission (SRC) chairlady Lyn Mengich with SRC Commissioner Dalmas Otieno (left) in Nairobi. [David Gichuru]

Members of Parliament are once again looking to award themselves hefty perks, side-stepping the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) in a move that will cost taxpayers billions of shillings. This time, the MPs have targeted house allowances and the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) last month paid MPs Sh250,000 each backdated to October 2018.

“Every State officer, even the assistant chief earns a house allowance,” said National Assembly majority Aden Duale. “Why is the House Speaker paid allowance but not the majority and minority leaders of the house?”

MPs have predictably united on this course claiming to be discriminated from public servants drawing a house allowance and threatening to retaliate.

“The only State officer in Kenya today that does not have a house allowance is the MP,” said ODM Homa Bay woman representative Gladys Wanga last month. “The (SRC) are just speaking about it in public but I can tell you everything that is done is a negotiated agreement.”

The SRC has moved to court to block the payments stating that it is unconstitutional and amounts to paying MPs house allowances twice since the allocation is already factored in their basic pay.

“The payment of this house allowance to MPs and Senators amounts to double payment of a benefit which is already included by SRC in the gross pay,” said SRC Chair Lyn Mengich.

“This unconstitutional action by the PSC to pay MPs and Senator’s house allowance of Sh250,000 monthly will cost taxpayers an extra Sh104 million every month, which is Sh1.2 billion annually.” In the Special Gazette notice No 6517 of 2017, the SRC published new schedules for public officials including clearly defining their remunerations and benefits. Senators and Members of the National Assembly earn Sh621,250 in gross income per month. Aside from this, MPs serving in any of the numerous committees earn Sh5,000 per any sitting with the chairperson earning Sh8,000.

The new schedule expunged the payment of mileage claims and instead, MPs now earn a monthly transport allowance of between Sh266,663 and Sh738,833 depending on the distance covered.

Aside from this, MPs earn an annual medical benefit for the whole family including a spouse and four children below 25 years entailing Sh10 million inpatient, Sh300,000 outpatient as well as Sh150, 000 for maternity cover and Sh75,000 for optical and dental cover each.

MPs are also entitled to a life insurance cover of up to three times their annual basic pay, Sh7 million car loan and Sh20 million mortgage allowance to be paid at the end of the term at three per cent annual interest. The MPs claims that the SRC is discriminating against them compared to other public officials is thus untrue.