End of row as Members of Parliament get their full pay back

By Juma Kwayera

NAIROBI, KENYA: MPs can now smile all the way to the bank after it emerged they can continue earning the same salary as their predecessors in the Tenth Parliament.

This followed a closing of ranks between the embattled Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).

The Standard on Saturday has equally established that the two teams, in a give-and-take deal, have agreed to a proposal to slash MPs’ mileage claims in exchange for reversal of the pay cut. In the revised rates, SRC had scaled up the mileage claims, which if retained a member of PSC says, net pay would have risen astronomically beyond the contested Sh851,000.

The resolution of the standoff follows a directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday that the matter be put to rest fast.

The reduction of salaries has dominated the Eleventh Parliament’s agenda, with disgruntled MPs threatening to disband the commission chaired by Sarah Serem.

Other measures contemplated by MPs included shooting down this year’s budget or extending the reductions by a similar percentage to the Executive, upper stratum of the civil service, parastatals, the Judiciary and constitutional commissions through legislation in Parliament.

Polarising issue

President Uhuru met SRC and PSC members at State House during which it was agreed that the two bodies find common ground.

Consequently, the two commissions have been meeting and according to members who preferred anonymity, the issue has been resolved and details of it will be unveiled either on Monday or Tuesday.

The prospects of MPs earning Sh851,000 looked bright after the Budget Committee proposed Sh24 billion for the PSC, which was not altered when its chairman Mutava Musyimi presented the budget report in the House on Thursday.

Contacted, Mr Musyimi would not be drawn into the MPs’ salaries row. 

“How PSC allocates the money is none of my business,” Musyimi said.

Contacted, Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo, sounded conciliatory on a matter that initially looked like it would polarise the Executive and the legislature. “I would not like to be drawn into the argument. The matter has been put to rest already. I stand by what I have said before (retention of the salaries the Tenth Parliament earned),” said Midiwo.

Yesterday, a member of the PSC divulged that Serem had acceded to demands to rescind her decision.

“She has now realised that her decisions would have been harmful to the economy,” said the MP.

Speaker Muturi would neither deny nor confirm when asked to shed light on the issue.