MPs threaten to disband SRC over abolishment of sitting allowances

The Senate and National Assembly houses are on induction retreat in Naivasha and Nairobi hotels respectively ahead of the 13th parliament sittings.  

The training sessions are meant to bring the lawmakers in the loop on how to strengthen devolution through legislation, create awareness on the mandate of the two houses, reflect on key issues such as the houses’ leadership and air out their grievances among them remunerations. 

While addressing lawmakers during their induction at a city hotel, the National Assembly speaker Moses Wetangula hinted and assured the MPs to have no reason to worry insisting to have already initiated talks with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for the restoring of the abolished sitting allowance. 

“We live incrementally and not by reduction; I have this morning held a meeting with the SRC chairperson to express your anger over cuts in MPs’ perks. I called them to order on a few things and I assure you that I will be making an announcement before Wednesday,” Wetangula affirmed. 

Both houses have invited key national leaders from the three arms of government to delve into the key topical issues among them reinstating the plenary sitting allowance of Sh5000 sitting allowance remittance for the 416 Member of Parliaments in the two Houses of Parliament – National Assembly (349) and Senate (67) which had been abolished by SRC chaired by Lyn Mengich effective August 9, 2022.  

The Speaker reaffirmed to ensure an equitable approach where MPs are clearly facilitated to perform their tasks as per the constitution.  

He asserted to ensure no conflicting issues and emergence of scandals that surround the comparisons between Parliament and other departments of government that have been previously made and distinctions drawn. 

According to SRC chair Mengich, the decision to obliterate the Sh5,000 plenary sitting allowance for MPs and Sh3,000 for MCAs will save the taxpayer Sh8.2 billion over five years as it kept the President salary at Sh1.4 million and Deputy President’s at Sh1.2 million effective August. Sentiments supported by SRC vice chairperson Dr. Amani Komora who stated that it will save taxpayers between Sh1 billion and Sh1.5 billion annually. 

“We looked at the pay of the State officers from an equity and fairness perspective, which is equal pay for work of equal value. It is what we used to evaluate all the jobs and determine relative job worth for all the state officers in the executive and legislature at the national and county levels,” said Mengich. 

“An MP at the national and county level discharges their role through plenary sittings. If you then are paid an allowance for plenary sitting and you are still getting a full time pay it amounts to double compensation,” she added. 

The SRC set the MPs salaries at Sh710,000 including Sh134,000 as house allowance. 

Wetang’ula also faulted SRC for limiting the engine capacity of cars the MPs are required to use who claimed that capping the engine capacity for parliamentarians at no more than 3000cc was not acceptable. 

 “You cannot constrain a member in the manner he serves his people who live hundreds of Kilometres apart. Discussions with the SRC is also on the engine sizes of vehicles MPs will get given the different terrain in the country,” claimed Wetangula. 

The MPs plan to initiate the process of disbanding the SRC following the decision. They accused the commission of overstepping its mandate and asked the PSC who serves as its employer, to challenge the decision by moving to court. 

“We will not sit and watch the SRC take away what we enjoyed in the last Parliament. We will ask the Parliamentary Service Commission to challenge the gazette notice failing, which we will embark on a process to disband the SRC,” Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi reiterated. 

With the National Assembly the only ones enjoying the mileage claim and the reinstating of the plenary sitting allowance, the lawmakers will earn more than Sh1.2 million per month inclusive of mileage claims in the case of a member who does not chair a House committee, which is more than the Court of Appeal judge.  

The SRC reviewed the salaries of Court of Appeal judges to Sh1,156,108 up from Sh1,122,759 in December 2021. 

The National Assembly holds 4 sittings a week, the Senate sits three times a week.