Gen Z revolt now turns to MPs’ hefty salaries, allowances

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The nationwide wave of youth-led protests has once again brought under scrutiny the wastage in public service, with calls for a relook into the salaries of top earners including lawmakers.

MPs are some of the most pampered in the public payroll, with fat allowances, staff at their beck and call and other elite privileges during and after their time in office.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna last week exposed the extravagance in exaggerated allocations running into millions of shillings – some going unused during the entire five-year term.

The fist-term lawmaker, who is the Senate deputy minority whip, cited the amount loaded into his Electronic Toll Collection.

“I was shocked at the amount of money that is on my ETC card for my parliamentary car. As of this morning, when I used that same car to come here, there is Sh377,000 on my ETC card,” Sifuna said. 

“I don’t need all that money. Even if I drove up and down the expressway for a year, I would never exhaust the amount. We must do this so that we demonstrate to the people that we are serious.”

ETC is only used by legislators to access the 27km expressway that links Nairobi CBD with Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

These expenses, shouldered by the taxpayers, are among the costs informing tax hikes that forced Kenyans to the streets in deadly demonstrations that claimed at least 41 lives. 

The revelations reinforce the widespread belief that the country’s MPs are amongst the highest paid compared to their counterparts in the region, if not globally.

A 2013 study by the UK-based Independent Parliamentary Standard Authority and the International Monetary Fund ranked Kenya’s legislators the second highest paid after Nigerians.

MPs in Ghana, Indonesia and South Africa trail their Kenyan counterparts.

Kenyan MPs were found to take home more than their counterparts in the United States, Japan and Britain.

An MP from the far-flung Northeastern region attending all committee meetings and lucky enough to hold a leadership position can comfortably take home up to Sh2.5 million every month.

The figure can hit Sh3 million in a month he lands a foreign trip to Australia, Dubai or the United States.

MPs are entitled to a monthly salary of Sh725,502 inclusive of Sh435,301 basic salary and a house allowance of Sh150,000.

The pay goes up for the speakers who earn Sh1.18 million, consisting of Sh711,196 basic pay and Sh250,000 in house allowance. 

Deputy speakers in both houses take home Sh948,261, broken down to Sh568,957 basic pay and an enhanced house allowance of Sh200,000.

Leaders of majority and minority are paid a monthly cumulative salary of Sh784,768.

The leadership – speakers, majority and minority leaders and whips – are further entitled to a monthly special duty allowance of up to Sh150,000 depending on seniority.

MPs also get additional pay pegged on the number of times they attend committee sittings.

Committee members pocket Sh7,500 for every sitting, capped at Sh120,000 per month.

Chairpersons of committees and their deputies, however, have enhanced allowances of Sh15,000 per sitting to Sh240,000 and Sh12,000 per sitting, respectively, to a maximum of Sh192,000 per month.

Also ballooning the…

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