MPs oppose move to increase employees’ wages
Lawmakers have opposed a bid by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) to increase their staff’s wages.
According to the Parliament Liaison Office, the legislators rejected the revised wage structure announced by the PSC.
The PSC created the Liaison Office as a division to support and direct the activities of constituency offices.
The legislators contend that because their position is political, they should be allowed to choose who to recruit and at what salary.
The MPs disagreed with the PSC’s requirements for the hiring personnel, claiming that they knew who would work with whom.
The commission had mandated that constituency managers had a bachelor’s degree at the very least, but MPs cut the requirement to a diploma.
A bachelor’s degree was also required of personal assistants and ward coordinators but MPs argued that the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) was sufficient.
An MP is required to use the allocated cash to hire at least one researcher to assist them with House-related legislative issues.
An office assistant and security guard would receive a minimum monthly salary of Sh35,000 and a maximum monthly salary of Sh87,000 under the PSC structure, which the lawmakers rejected.
They insisted that the minimum wage should remain at Sh16,000, with the highest being up to the MPs’ discretion.
Constituency office managers who made a minimum of Sh100,000 per month in the 12th Parliament were to receive a minimum of Sh115,500 and a maximum of Sh259,000.
Though the minimum monthly salary for managers was set at Sh100,000 in the last Parliament, many MPs merely contributed Sh70,000.
In the 12th Parliament, a personal assistant to a member of parliament made at least Sh65,000 per month, while an office assistant made Sh20,000.
The PAs were to receive a minimum of Sh69,000 and a maximum of Sh163,500 under the new system while an office secretary received Sh30,000 per month and a driver received Sh40,000.
Maximum and minimum amounts were established at Sh129,000 and 45,000, respectively.
County, constituency, ward coordinators, field officers, accounts assistants, and procurement assistants would receive monthly salaries ranging from Sh69,000 to Sh163,500 under the new PSC structure.
As the commission merely establishes the minimum payment, there is currently no cap on the salaries paid to those hired by MPs.
According to the commission, it developed the system because MPs compensate their staff members differently.
Similar to the 12th Parliament, parliamentarians still desire a free hand in choosing the salaries of their staff members as long as they adhere to the minimum wage established by the commission.
