Marende seeks pay rise for MPs
National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende on Thursday called for an increase in MPs’ salaries.
Mr Marende noted that the Sh851,000 monthly salary of an MP was “too little” compared to what other State officers earn.
The MPs, according to the Speaker, were paid peanuts.
He was addressing the launch of State officers’ job evaluation by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
He gave the examples of the Treasury permanent secretary, the Kenya Revenue Authority commissioners, members of the Judicial Service Commission and Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution officials who, despite reporting to Parliament, earned much more.
“The last significant review of the remuneration of MPs was in 2003 when the monthly salary of a member of Parliament rose to Sh200,000 with allowances of Sh651,000 per month.
“If you take this brief history, it quickly tells you that the average period between one increase and another has been seven and a half years and that from the last in 2003 it has been nine years,” he stated.
In what is likely to attract heated public debate, Mr Marende argued that the workload of MPs had increased significantly over the years.
“The 10th Parliament, for instance, has passed an unprecedented 96 Bills, 82 being government Bills and 12 private member Bills. This in addition to the passage of the new Constitution in 2010,” he explained.
He stated that since 2003, Parliament had attracted professionals from the private sector and the academia, bringing with them a wealth of experience which had resulted in constructive debates.
He noted that 51 per cent of the current MPs had a first degree, 29 per cent possess master’s degrees and six per cent had doctorates.
“It is therefore important to consider adequately remunerating members of Parliament towards a reasonable standard of living commensurate with their role and the weight of their responsibilities.”
Law implementation
Mr Marende argued that KRA commissioners earned Sh1 million a month, the Treasury PS Sh1,130,000 while the chairman of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution took home Sh1.2 million.
Public Service head Francis Kimemia told civil servants to brace for salary cuts as the salaries commission started reviewing the pay of state officers.
Salaries and Remuneration Commission chairperson Sarah Serem warned that no State officer would be exempted from job evaluation to be undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
She said the objective was to determine the officers’ worth to produce a rationalised, harmonised, defensible and equitable grading structure for State offices.
