MPs have broken ranks with the Parliamentary Service Commission members over perks contained in the commission’s report adopted in Parliament on Tuesday.

It is believed that backbenchers and assistant ministers cried foul that the commissioners were set to make Sh5,000 more as sitting allowance, yet, their work was not very different from that of ordinary MPs.

The outrage from the MPs came just a day after Parliament adopted the report raising their salaries from Sh851,000 to Sh1.1 million. The MPs want the perks of the commissioners amended before they take their break next Wednesday.

The adjournment of the House, due Thursday, was postponed since MPs want Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta to table Bills to legalise their pay raise, before they go on recess.

The PSC proposed that the chairman gets Sh30,000 per sitting, the vice chair pockets Sh25,000 per sitting, the members, like chairmen of House committees, make Sh15,000, while ordinary MPs get Sh10,000 per sitting.

Skew allowance

In the stormy Kamukunji (informal meeting) held at Parliament’s Old Chambers, MPs accused the PSC, Parliament’s administrative wing, of skewing the allowance structures to the benefit of commissioners and members of the Speaker’s panel.

The PSC is chaired by House Speaker Kenneth Marende. The vice chairman in Walter Nyambati (Kitutu Masaba, NLP).

Those who spoke after the closed-door meeting said a team of MPs had been formed to iron out the discrepancies, giving perhaps the strongest indication that the proposals of the commission are likely to be revised. A downward review is unlikely.

The team with among others Dr Boni Khalwale (Ikolomani, New Ford Kenya), the Speaker, Mr John Mbadi (Gwassi, ODM) and Mr Peter Mwathi (Limuru, PNU) was asked to meet Thursday evening, review the allowances and submit a report to Parliament.

The team’s report, to amend the already adopted PSC’s proposals, will have to be tabled in Parliament for adoption next Tuesday.

Mr Gitobu Imanyara (Imenti Central, PNU) said the MPs were also up in arms over the proposal to backdate the salaries of the Prime Minister and his two deputies.

“We want fairness. If they are backdating their salaries to the day they were sworn in, they should also backdate the salaries of members,” said Mr Imanyara.

The MP said his colleagues had wondered why the PSC had appointed the Akiwumi tribunal, only to go ahead to push its own recommendations.

“It’s against the spirit of the law to go against the tribunal’s findings. But I hope the team will sort all these out,” said Mr Imanyara.

PSC’s critics outside Parliament contend that the body ought not to exist because it is a trade union (lobbies for MPs salaries) and an employer (for Parliament’s staff) yet it doesn’t make money.

Deliberate

The MPs said the timing of their push for more salaries was deliberate and that it was aimed at arm-twisting the Treasury to accede to the new payment terms, because if the Finance minister refuses, the MPs will not approve the remaining amount of the Budget.

They are yet to pass the Appropriations Bill to allow the government to get money from the Consolidated Fund.

The Kamukunji was called specifically to address absenteeism of MPs from committee meetings and House proceedings.

The MPs suggested a system whereby colleagues will be forced to spend three hours in meetings in order to qualify for allowances. In fact, those who miss sittings will have their names made public.

A system of clocking in and out was also proposed to ensure that they deliver value for money.

The implementation of last Budget’s economic stimulus package and the roads’ money were also discussed. The MPs told the Speaker to rein in the Executive’s engineers and officers from setting higher prices for projects.

They complained that they could grade roads using the constituency development funds with just Sh650,000, but when Ministry engineers put in their budgets, the bill comes to Sh3 million.

The proposal to buy 300 computers for every constituency was also criticised with MPs questioning how it will work given the obvious challenges of lack of electricity and security of computers in most local schools.