MPs work hard for their money – Speaker

By JUDIE KABERIA | August 23, 2012

“If we feel maintaining the legislature is expensive then try dictatorship or military rule”/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 23 – The Speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Marende on Thursday urged Kenyans to change their perception that Members of Parliament earn astronomical salaries.

Speaking during the launch of a job evaluation exercise for State and constitutional office holders, he said MPs have numerous taxing roles and deserve good pay.

“It would be paradoxical if not outright anachronistic for MPs playing this classical perhaps unprecedented oversight role to be less remunerated than all the State officers and commissioners that they vet into office and hold to account,” he said.

He said it was worrying that Kenyans feel that the Sh1.5 million MPs earn is a lot yet their pay is similar to that of commissioners in other State institutions.

“The average remuneration package for a MP is a gross of Sh851,000. The Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority, who reports to Parliament through the Ministry of Finance, earns a monthly salary of Sh800,000 and an allowance of Sh700,000 making a total of Sh1.5 million. Commissioners of the Kenya Revenue Authority earn an average of Sh1 million,” he explained.

He expressed concerns that legislators were an easy target (for ridicule) and appealed for sobriety and understanding of the complex and diverse roles they play as legislators, constituency representatives which require them to assist even the destitute in their areas.

According to Marende, MPs should be well paid to attract professionals in the career since they play a crucial role that requires professionalism.

“If we feel that maintaining the legislature is an expensive thing that we cannot afford, then try dictatorship or military rule,” Marende said referring to a past quote in his quest to justify why MPs earn what is termed as above average.

The chairperson of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission Sarah Serem said the evaluation exercise being undertaken will determine how public officers should be remunerated.

She noted it will also be seeking to harmonise pay perks to overcome huge differences in state and constitutional offices.

Serem also said all stakeholders including MPs will be interviewed by the commission in efforts to overcome challenges that have led to discomfort and unrests by public office holders. In this, MPs will also substantiate why they earn what they earn for the commission to review.

“The outcome of this exercise will determine effective management of remuneration in this country. It will determine the comparable worth of the offices and produce a rationalized, harmonized, defensible and equitable grading structure for state offices,” she said.

The commission is mandated to regularly review the remuneration and benefits of all State officers. It is also expected to address disparities and ensure the government gives competitive remuneration to match the global marked.

araka

whats wrong with you ma ende
ric mit

marende u are insane,dont forget we are borrowing money from donros for u to be making such insane amount.Evryone in the world knows you kenyan mpigs are selfish.Even the people who give you financial aid,cannot fathom why u paid that amount of money
Elijah Andika

It seems every time Marende is in control of the house, there is no one to inform him of lack of forum. Those seats worth Ksh. 240,000 are never adequately used, most of the time they are empty! In short, it is madness to propose a pay rise to good for nothing legislators.
Boiyot

Mr Speaker sir,
Just because someone is answerable to parliament doesn’t mean they are doing a lower job than parliament… That is a very outdated and primitive way to analyse how much one should make. Point to note is all those ‘executives’ who are ‘junior’ to MPs in your view have very high qualifications! If MPs/senators are to earn more than them, they should have either higher skills or more work experience.
If also we used the logic that whoever’s been reported to is senior, then remember MPs and senator report to the voters. And guess what the voters are saying? Yes, MPs/senators should get a pay cut. In fact, they should be paid pro rata, i.e. they should get paid according to how many times they actually report to work!
And lastly, we all wish that MPs really did support the destitute in their constituency as you’ve mentioned above. But we all know that this is not in their job description, those who actually do that are few and far between. Most MPs are seem by their constituents during campaign time!
We just hope that Salaries and Remuneration Commission will not decide to raise everyone’s salary at the end of their fact finding harmonisation exercise. If there is to be any harmonisation, it should involve those being excessively paid taking a pay cut to manageable levels.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Kwessi-Pratt/100000996986819 Kwessi Pratt

Speaker Kenneth Marende has always shown heavy signs of self-centredness. When PM Raila attempted to appoint himself leader of government in parliament, Marende agreed with that self-appointment. That he was selfishly reinforcing his party’s position was never in doubt at all. However, in a democratic country, there is no way one can appoint himself to any position at all. People are directly elected or appointed by other insitutions. Nevertheless, selfish Marende hidding under national accord, attempted to rewrite democratic norms. Thus, earning himself fake solomonic wisdom. Many of his subsequent rulings and stands have followed that conceited pattern. Its interesting when all other sectors are facing salary constraints, Marende has no qualms in agitating for increment of pay for MPs, the highest people in the country and doing alot of nothing.
mkenya

yah, pay them that much and tax it! i thought under your skull there is substance marende…
maina nderitu

Which world is the speaker living in? Probably a world of the ostrich where he has buried his head in the sand. He is one of them and so he will protect his turf. Shame on him. Let him take account of what him and his ilk do, compare it with other modern and successful democracies, then he will see that him and his ilk are ill begotten creatures who deserve nothing but an implosion of the building in which they conduct their sessions when the whole lot is in session.
daudi

Marende this is so unfortunate for the tax payers,i cant tell n ive never heard any thing tangible that i can recommend for my MP what he hv done, just took tha salary, n now he is back searching for votes, yes reporting in parliament is his duty to stand for role call, next does his own things 4 his benefit, ,tyme 2 think about doctors, nurses, teachers, who toil hard n are the back bone of our Economy rather than talk about the selfish MPs