President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to get a KSh 56,000 salary increment on top of the 1.44 million he currently earns. His deputy William Ruto will also get an increment of 47,000 up from the 1.23 million he currently draws from the taxpayers’ coffers.
This looks like a slight increase but it becomes very huge when you compare the amount with what the average Kenyan earns. More than 80% of Kenyan workers earn below the 47K that Ruto will be getting as an increment.
Last week, during the Labor Day celebrations, Kenyans were hoping that the government would increase the minimum wage bill by at least 15% which COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli had promised. But this didn’t happen.
In November last year, Uhuru rebuked MPs who always push for salary increments.
“Kenyans have no problem with you leaders increasing your salaries, but only if you would work on their situations first. Sadly, here you have a scenario of suffering Kenyans who upon going through the local dailies, find that the MPs, MCAs and all other leaders have increased their salaries. I must say this, I don’t want war with anyone, but I’m saying these are things we must talk about as leaders,” he said.
But that seems long ago as Uhuru is leading the greedy lawmakers in getting a salary increment.
The MPs in their own wisdom have also awarded themselves a sh250,000 monthly rent allowance despite having been given a sh20 million mortgage.
Speaker Justin Muturi has said the MPs deserve the huge packages because they are State Officers.
Meanwhile pupils in Mangororo Primary School are learning in flooded classrooms. One might think this is the location of Arror and Kimwarer Dams.
When is that revolution again?