Kibaki calls crisis talks

The controversial pay rise for MPs is expected to dominate the agenda of a special Cabinet meeting called for Tuesday.

President Kibaki will chair the session at State House at a time when a furious backlash has greeted an attempt by MPs to award themselves a hefty pay increase that would see them earn more than most of their counterparts in Europe.

There are fears that despite the widespread unpopularity of their actions, MPs are planning to paralyse government business in the House to express their displeasure with Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s announcement that the government has no money to fund the mammoth pay increases.

The national Budget presented by Mr Kenyatta last month is yet to be approved by the House, and they may seek to assert their position by blocking it. Some MPs, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said they would also block an adjournment motion putting the referendum campaigns in the balance.

Similar tactics were used to bully Mr Amos Kimunya when he was at Treasury after he insisted that MPs’ earnings should be taxed. John Michuki was also forced to back down during his time as acting Finance minister after he said he would move a Bill to tax MPs’ pay.

Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo said the MPs’ move to raise their pay was unfortunate but pointed out that the proposed constitution will curb such abuses.

“The current constitution allows them,” said Mr Kilonzo. “I’m surprised that they didn’t ask for more. The current constitution and the procedure for increasing the salaries of MPs have given conflict of interest a totally new meaning. They took one afternoon to adopt the report, but they have taken a whole year to consider and approve nominees to head the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission.”

Mr Kilonzo predicted that Mr Kenyatta would have a tough time in Parliament in the coming months as he seeks to push through legislation in a hostile House.

“As it is, Parliament is already taking up a big portion of the budget. Taxpayers are spending Sh1 billion for the renovation of the chambers. The Judiciary, in comparison, needed Sh200 million to renovate the former Income Tax building but got only Sh8 million. My ministry asked for Sh5.6 billion but we only got about Sh2.3 billion. I don’t know how we shall operationalise the new constitution.” Teachers, the umbrella trade union COTU and civil society were united in opposing the proposed pay rise on Saturday.

It is expected that Mr Kenyatta will present the Treasury’s position that the country cannot afford the package at the special Cabinet meeting before proceeding to Parliament where he can expect a hostile reception from MPs. The Finance minister’s position is that the proposed pay rise would lead to a wage spiral as other government employees demand better pay. Mr Kenyatta is already grappling with demands for improved pay by teachers, police officers and civil servants.

Mr Kenyatta is understood to have met President Kibaki before issuing the communication that there was no money for the raises. But according to allies, he is keen to present this view to Cabinet because he is aware that MPs will attempt to “punish” him for the action and force him out of Treasury as they did Mr Kimunya, although he feels he has acted in the best interests of taxpayers.

Mr Kenyatta has also come to the conclusion that approving the new pay package would damage him politically. He is said to have confided to House Speaker Kenneth Marende that tabling bills to improve MPs’ pay would be suicidal for him.

The decision by MPs to boost their own pay reversed a 40-year tradition which required that any recommendation on a pay rise adopted by members should benefit MPs in the next term of Parliament.

Constitutional scholar Prof Yash Pal Ghai said the MPs had shown themselves to be greedy and unprincipled.

“The general rule is that no man should be a judge in his own cause. That is why MPs should not determine their own pay because there will be a manifest conflict of interest,” he said.

Prof Ghai said all the draft constitutions since Bomas had sought to prevent MPs from exploiting taxpayers by requiring that any pay rise should be recommended by an independent tribunal.

He said although the latest pay rise had been recommended by the Akiwumi commission, it was difficult for it to enjoy legitimacy because that team had been appointed by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) which may have “loaded the scales in favour of MPs”.

“This action will reinforce the view that politicians don’t have the welfare of Kenyans at heart and are extremely irresponsible. It will heighten calls for a new generation of leaders,” he said.

Nominated MP George Nyamweya took a different view, saying MPs were operating in a unique context in which they were expected to work for seven days attending to Parliamentary affairs, House committees and the needs of their constituencies.

“I concede that no employee should be able to revise his own terms midway through a contract,” he said. “But as you heard in the debate in the House, an MP in Kenya has no terms of reference. He ends up being a social welfare organisation. Kenyans must ask themselves what they want of MPs before they criticise them. There must be a complete change of attitude,” he said.

Mr Nyamweya said there was a risk of increasing corruption if MPs are not well remunerated. “We took away weekend harambees because MPs kept asking businessmen for ‘donations’ so that they could give a decent amount. We must ask ourselves, if we do not pay MPs well, if we do not pay constitutional office holders such as judges well, will we not be courting a return to corrupt ways?”

The MPs’ position enjoys little support at the highest levels of government with President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga said to be opposed to the pay rise.

A source familiar with the meetings that took place before Mr Kenyatta announced that Treasury has no extra money to pay MPs said the Finance ministry pointed out that it was already struggling to meet the budgetary requests of various ministries before the MPs’ new demands emerged.

They said the government had allocated only three per cent of the budget to development expenditure, with recurrent expenditure taking up 97 per cent. This meant they were unlikely to endorse a further expansion of the wage bill.

Apart from the pay rise, there were reports the issue of the leader of the House Business Committee, which has been the subject of a tussle between Mr Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, is also likely to re-emerge although it was not confirmed whether it will be part of the agenda in the Tuesday meeting.

Mr Musyoka’s allies have been pushing for him to be appointed by President Kibaki, but Mr Odinga’s men want a compromise deal which does not involve the VP.