President Kenyatta urges dialogue over MPs' pay

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President Kenyatta has appealed to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission and Parliament to resolve the thorny issue of MPs' pay amicably May 29, 2013. FILE 

By ANTHONY KARIUKI, amkariuki@ke.nationmedia.com 
Posted  Wednesday, May 29  2013 at  17:33

IN SUMMARY

• President acknowledges independence of Parliament but maintains SRC only body mandated by the Constitution to set and review the salaries of all State Officers.
• Kenyatta: Executive arm of government will respect the salary package drawn by the SRC.

President Kenyatta has appealed to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission and Parliament to resolve the thorny issue of MPs' pay amicably.

In a statement, the President said "the acrimonious exchanges" between the SRC and the legislators was regrettable and had caused paralysis in government.

"This continuing paralysis is not in the national interest and it is imperative that this matter be brought to an appropriate and sustainable conclusion within the law," said President Kenyatta Wednesday.

"I therefore urge Parliament to engage the Salaries and Remuneration Commission in a constructive manner with a view to resolving this matter," he said.

President Kenyatta acknowledged the independence of Parliament but maintained that the SRC was the only body mandated by the Constitution to set and review the salaries of all state officers.

"It is the expectation of the people of Kenya that independent constitutional institutions including Parliament must respect the institutional arrangements and division of mandates in our Constitution."

He said that the Executive arm of government will respect the salary package drawn by the SRC.

"For the avoidance of doubt, all state officers in the Executive will continue to abide by the determination of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission," said the President.

President Kenyatta's intervention came on the day when the SRC and the National Assembly traded words over the matter.

SRC chairman Sarah Serem said Clerks of Parliament risk being liable for abuse of office and misuse of public funds if they effect higher pay for MPs.

SRC chairman Sarah Serem warned the National Assembly Clerk Justin Bundi and the Senate ClerkJeremiah Nyegenye could be held responsible for "abuse of office and aiding the misuse of public funds" if they pay MPs more than is prescribed in the Gazette Notice.

"The Constitution provides for setting of salaries for State Officers and that is what we did," Ms Serem said during a news conference at SRC's offices in Nairobi Wednesday.

In a swift rejoinder, Speaker Justin Muturi said the SRC and the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) should not "threaten" Parliament.

“The SRC derives its mandate from the Constitution, but the method that it shall then follow when doing its job is in the SRC Act. She (SRC chairman Sarah Serem) is supposed to bring her proposals to Parliament. Read section 26(2) of the SRC Act,” Mr Muturi told the Nation on phone from Turkey.

“They should tread carefully. They should not threaten Parliament. Are they out of their minds? Parliament will take action and we’ll see where they will go,” he said.

The SRC thanked President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto for pushing for a low wage bill in the public sector.

Ms Serem said the idea behind the move was to allocate more money to development.