Our Members of Parliament earning more than Indian, French comrades

By MARK KAPCHANGA

Growing inequality is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Though not inevitable, the concentration of wealth at the very top is worsening.

The rising industrialisation, coupled with better-educated citizenry, has compelled Kenyans to demand income redistribution.

Inequality is a big worry even in resilient economies. India’s Government is under fire for lack of inclusive growth while China’s leadership fear that growing disparities will cause social unrest.

Economists say the flaring wealth gaps in Kenya may have damaging side effects. Big income gaps bar talented poor people from access to quality education.

According to the International Monetary Fund, inequality slows growth, causes financial crises and weakens demand.

More controversial surveys link social ills such as suicide, crime and teen pregnancy that have long been associated with poverty to income inconsistencies.

Poorest countries

Indeed, Kenya is among the world’s 30 poorest countries. It ranks 145 out of 187 countries on the 2013 Human Development Index.

Inequalities are wide, with the top 10 per cent of Kenyans earning 44 per cent of the national income while the bottom 10 per cent earns less than one per cent.

As the country’s healthcare sector yawns for more funding, the under five child mortality rates has risen from 110 to more than 115 per 1,000 live births while malaria continues to kill about 44 per cent of all the children under the age of five.

But even as more than 15 million people go without access to safe water or sanitation facilities, Members of Parliament, Judges, parastatal chiefs and members of various commissions get over-paid relative to other public servants.

The Kenyan legislators are among the highly paid lawmakers in the world. While the average monthly wage in Kenya is Sh6,498, MPs’ basic earning is about 130 times more. 

After a June increase, Kenyans MPs’ pay now ranks above that of the US and the UK.

   The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, a UK body tasked with independently monitoring and controlling MPs’ expenses, pay and pensions, shows that Kenyan MPs’ basic pay is 76 times the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

    Better paid MPs

“There have been a lot of accusations on MPs. We are not greedy,” said Mr William Cheptumo of Baringo North. MPs get paid Sh532,000 a month, some Sh10,000 more than what legislators in France earn. But it is Sh52,000 less than what their counterparts in India, a more robust economy than Kenya, earn. In Uganda, MPs are paid Sh514,000 while in Ghana they earn Sh320,000 a month.

Despite the fact that Indian lawmakers are ill-paid, their work is rewarded with posh bungalows in the richest parts of Delhi. This is in deep contrast to the dormitories Japanese MPs outside Tokyo live in. Peculiarly in Thailand, the governing party’s MPs are paid more than those of the opposition.

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) says Kenya ranks alarmingly high in respect of disparities between the highest and the lowest paid public officers. The country stands at 169 per cent as compared to Rwanda at 72 per cent.