Musalia Mudavadi (pictured) said the lawmakers are no-longer serving the interests of people who elected them because they are only keen on enriching themselves, despite the hard-economic times the country is undergoing/COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 16 – Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi has joined Kenyans in opposing plans by MPs to award themselves more perks, following reports that they want night allowances.
Mudavadi said the lawmakers are no-longer serving the interests of people who elected them because they are only keen on enriching themselves, despite the hard-economic times the country is undergoing.
“We are disturbed and many people are angry,” he said on Sunday, at a church service in Nairobi, “it is very dangerous for the country and this kind of greed is not healthy. They are setting the wrong example, and this example has now crept to the County Assemblies.”
The ANC leader described the MPs appetite for more perks as a ”shame”.
“That elected leaders continue awarding themselves hefty perks when ordinary Kenyans are struggling to meet basic needs like food and healthcare must be stopped,” he said.
He said it is time Parliament respected the independence of existing institutions like the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) which is charged with the mandate of reviewing salaries for public and state officers.
“Where does this Parliament reside? because we know that there are high levels of unemployment, we know very well that Kenya is ailing from high public debt, our universities are underfunded, our hospitals are not getting medicine to serve the people but Parliament chooses not to tackle those issues but to talk about what allowances they can get, they are doing the Kenyan people a lot of dis-service,” he said, and accused the MPs of undermining entities mandated by the constitution to review salaries.
The new night allowance which the MPs are seeking entitles each member between Sh18,200 and Sh24,000 per night, meaning the legislators can claim as much as Sh96,000 per week and up to Sh384,000 per month in night allowance only.
The MPs demand for night allowance comes before the dust settles on their move to award themselves Sh250,000 monthly house allowance which has sparked outrage from Kenyans.
The lawmakers backdated the allowances to 10 months.
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission however, termed the move as illegal and asked the members to return the money.
MPs have however, defended the number of allowances they are pursuing, saying they are necessary to efficiently serve the people.
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