Can you imagine

That Kenyan parliamentarians are among the best paid in the world!

In a country where several people toil and struggle to earn for their basic needs, the parliamentarians are in the verge of hiking their already extremely high "basic salary and allowances" up from Kshs 851,000 to Kshs 1.2 million a month!!!!

KiN Editorial acknowledges Prime Minister Raila Odinga's reaction to this move when he said that he is "totally against the idea of MPs increasing their salaries arbitrarily,”. Raila said this in his first aired news conference after being discharged from the hospital. “My position is very clear… I don’t think the move is right or fair. It is sending wrong signals to the people of this country.” Said the PM.

A tribunal chaired by retired judge Akilano Akiwumi recommended pay hikes that would see an ordinary member of parliament take home Kshs 1.2 million in basic salary and allowances per month. The Prime Minister's salary was proposed raised to Kshs 3,246,000 per month.

The Vice President's salary was put at Kshs 2,796,000, the Speaker Kshs 2,766,000, his deputy Sh1,841,000 and the two deputy Prime Ministers Kshs 1,891,000 per month.

If legalised through a bill of parliament, the pay raise will cost the taxpayers an additional one billion shillings a year in wage costs. MPs' salaries and allowances will cost 4.3 billion shillings up from the current 3.6 billion shillings.


Courtesy: KiN Newsreel, Nairobi.