How legislators’ push for higher salary threatens Uhuru’s pledge to Kenyans

By ALEX NDEGWA

KENYA: The rocky relationship between Parliament and the Executive in the early days of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration threatens to upset his early plans.

Barely two months after he was sworn in as the country’s youngest-ever president, Uhuru faces his first major crisis in the standoff with MPs over their salaries. And it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Parliament is yet to approve his Government’s Sh1,600 billion budget, which MPs are now targeting as leverage in their campaign to extort higher salaries from taxpayers. Lawmakers also plan to try to arm-twist the courts by threatening their funding.

Later this month, the House is required to approve budgets for the National Government, Judiciary and Parliament.

The confrontation over salaries will escalate next week with a meeting of a powerful commission tasked with the welfare of MPs as well as a key committee that will start budget approval hearings.

Lawmakers have demanded Sh851,000 in monthly pay instead of the Sh532,500 set by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission. A deal that could see them paid the SRC salaries and higher allowances was abandoned after a Motion in Parliament to declare the salaries team’s gazette notices “null and void”.

Abuse of office

Following a challenge by the Law Society of Kenya, the High Court has ordered that MPs be paid Sh532,500 until the case is determined. A similar case has been filed by activist Okoiti Omtatah also seeking to block the higher pay. 

On Monday, seven MPs appointed commissioners of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) will be sworn in with salary discussions a priority. MPs have not been paid since assuming office. The SRC has warned the PSC team, led by National Assembly Speaker Justine Muturi, that they will be charged with abuse of office if they authorise illegal payments.

“Anybody who acts outside the law in pursuant of payment will have acted unlawfully and faces the risk of being held liable for abuse of office and aiding the misuse of public funds,” said the commission’s chairperson Sarah Serem.

National Assembly members Jimmy Angwenyi, Adan Keynan, Regina Changorok and Gladys Wanga and Senators Beth Mugo, Sammy Leshore and David Musila will be sworn in as PSC commissioners on Monday. Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye as secretary is the PSC Chief Executive Officer.

Next week the Budget and Appropriations Committee will begin hearings to review the financial estimates and make recommendations to the National Assembly.

It will receive presentations from other committees after scrutiny of allocations of respective ministries and the team could make drastic reductions targeting select State functions to punish the executive.

While they are unlikely to refuse to approve the budget later this month, for obvious implication on their welfare too, they have signalled intent to implement crippling reductions. 

Previously MPs have exploited money-related Bills to blackmail Government to give in to their pay demands. Last year they arm-twisted the executive to award each Sh3.7 million gratuity in exchange for the passage of the Finance Bill.

Then, members of the Tenth Parliament had held up the Bill on the pretext they wanted to force through a cap on bank interest rates.  Their successors in the Eleventh Parliament now target the budget and threaten to reduce taxes under the guise of helping out ordinary Kenyans.

MPs have vowed they will alter the budgetary allocations to slash allocations for independent commission to plunge them into cash crisis.

Sh169 billion

They have also threatened to pass laws to exempt from income tax Kenyans earning Sh50,000 and below, review Value Added Tax Act and reduce the fuel levy. If implemented, these measures would shrink the revenue base and further widen the deficit in the budget estimated at Sh169 billion.

MPs have also indicated they will reject the VAT Bill seeking to, among others, impose 16 per cent VAT on most zero-rated agricultural and food items. KRA officials have said passage of the Bill will help raise an additional at least Sh12 billion. MPs reckon the threat of these actions will force the Government to negotiate with them.

Unlike his predecessors, President Kenyatta has to contend with a new constitutional order that substantially whittles down his authority.

Past presidents relied on whipping members of the Executive in Parliament (ministers and assistant ministers), a sizeable number in the House then, to bolster Government’s position.

That is not an option for Uhuru. Additionally, neither he nor Deputy President William Ruto is an MP to attend critical House sessions to lobby members like former President Kibaki and ex-Premier Raila Odinga did. 

With his administration in its early days, a confrontation with Parliament is ill advised, considering its powerful function in confirming his key appointees and passing urgent laws.

Appointments of top officials, including two Cabinet Secretaries, principal secretaries and ambassadors, who all must be vetted by Parliament, are pending.

That top leaders in the ruling Jubilee Coalition, including Majority Leader Aden Dualle, are among vocal proponents for the pay rise presents headache to the Government. This explains why the President is careful in his choice of words unlike two years ago. In 2010, Uhuru, as Finance minister, flatly rejected MPs bid for higher salaries after their approval of the Akiwumi report.

The role of MPs in approving budgets gives Parliament immense powers. Last year, the Judiciary had prepared Sh18.8 billion budget but got a Sh9.8 billion ceiling from Treasury.

MPs invasion

Top Judiciary officers had to lobby the Justice and Legal Affairs committee for increased funding, later getting Sh16.4 billion.

Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution said the action of National Assembly to revoke the SRC gazette notices was of no legal consequence in so far as terms set by SRC are concerned

“Kenyans shouldn’t worry about the greedy MPs. The constitutional fortress is solid and will withstand the MPs invasion and assault,” lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi posted on his Twitter account.