Members of Parliament are plotting to cripple the operations of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, which ordered them last month to refund hundreds of millions of shillings illegally paid out as house allowance.
Last April the MPs awarded themselves a Sh250,000 monthly house allowance, which will cost taxpayers Sh104 million every month, or Sh1.2 billion annually. The SRC has filed a case in court against the allowance, which, it says, is illegal and unconstitutional. It wants the MPs to refund about Sh700 million already paid out to them. The MPs, meanwhile, have vowed to fight for the perks in court and on the floor of Parliament through legislation.
In one of the most astounding revenge missions by Parliament in recent years, the MPs plan to amend the law and strip SRC bosses of their Sh1 million monthly perks.
To have their way against the commission, they are targeting the SRC Act, which they intend to amend so that commissioners are employed on a part-time rather than full-time basis.
Should they have their way, the current SRC commissioners will forfeit their monthly salaries and will be only entitled to a sitting allowance, which the lawmakers want pegged at Sh50,000 per session.
