Taxpayers’ millions that make the boss comfortable

By Joe Kiarie

Taxpayers could be coughing up millions of shillings daily to bankroll the luxury of legislators and parliamentary staff on official foreign trips.

With the number of Cabinet ministers, their assistants, and other MPs making joint official trips abroad getting alarmingly high, Kenyans are paying more to sustain these trips.

The Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) revised the daily subsistence allowances for MPs and parliamentary staff upwards last year, increasing it by 20 per cent. The rates are based on the cost of living in individual countries and the job scales of those travelling.

Officials travelling to Singapore receive the highest allowance, with MPs, the Speaker as well as the Clerk of the National Assembly receiving a per diem of Sh108,360 (US$1,290) daily while in the country. Daily allowances while in the US amount to Sh100,800. Other countries in which the officers draw huge allowances include Kuwait (Sh97,608), Switzerland (Sh93,324), Japan (Sh93,324), the UK (Sh93,240), Monaco (Sh92,400), Lebanon (Sh90,468), Canada (Sh88,368) and Turkey (Sh87,108).

Per diem

The least per diem paid to the MPs is Sh34,944 while visiting Uruguay, and Sh36,960 for those touring Vietnam and Chile. Allowances paid while visiting most countries range between Sh50,400 and Sh84,000.

Ostensibly, there is no much difference in allowances paid to those visiting cross-border countries and those traveling to far-flung corners of the world. Those touring neighbouring states such as Ethiopia receive Sh71,064, Sudan Sh60,396, Tanzania Sh53,256 and Uganda Sh54,348.

Parliament staff are paid based on their PSC scales and receive slightly lower allowances compared to MPs. PSC revised the subsistence allowances upwards during its 136th meeting held on May 5, last year, with the 20 per cent increment effected across the board.

 A similar blanket increment for all public servants had been effected in June 2009 citing a rise in the cost of living.

Efforts by former head of civil service Francis Muthaura to downsize the allowances given to MPs hit a snag in 2008 after PSC claimed it was autonomous and, therefore, needed no direction from Muthaura. In June, last year, Parliament’s budget for foreign and domestic trips was tripled from Sh162 million to Sh491 million for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The amount was to be utilised in trips made by committees, the PSC, and travels made under the Clerk’s Office and the Speaker’s Office.

Kenya has in the recent past gained notoriety for increasingly sending huge delegations of senior Government officials for long stays abroad, with 15 nations recently protesting against the uncoordinated travels.

The Canadian, Turkey, Polish, German, British, Russian, and Dutch among other governments complained the trips made by some Kenyan officials abroad occasioned protocol breakdowns since they are executed