The Salaries and Remuneration Commission now says the house allowance paid to the Members of Parliament is unconstitutional.
The Commission’s Chairperson Lyn Mengich said they will take legal action to recover the funds and ensure that no monies are paid to any State officer without their approval.
Kariithi: Reward based on performance is key for the Salaries and Renumeration Commission. #SundayLive pic.twitter.com/4kOuVT6P6R
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) October 4, 2015
The decision by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) to award MPs and senators a monthly house allowance of Ksh250,000, backdated to October last year, sparked outrage by Kenyans who condemned the leaders’ greed.
“The Parliamentary Service Commission does not have the mandate to review or set salaries and allowances to the State officers; that’s the mandate of the SRC,” Mengich said.
“The Gazette notice is clear and there is no misunderstanding here. The notice states that the State officers are paid a gross remuneration package.”
She said there is no other State officer who enjoys a house allowance outside the gross payment. The Parliamentary Service Commission had awarded MPs a monthly house allowance of KSh250,000 which has caused a public uproar.
Now the Salaries and Renumeration Commission should reduce MPs salaries and then match them with our GDP #KOTagainstMPsBonus
— Kenyan Facts 🇰🇪 (@KResearcher) October 9, 2012
Each of the 416 MPs received KSh2.25 million over and above their monthly pay in April being the backdated amount for the contentious allowance.
MPs are already enjoying a mortgage package of KSh20mn and the monthly house allowance would translate to an over Sh100mn burden to the taxpayer.