Good news for Kenyans after MPs are denied Sh2.5bn send-off package

dennis kibet

March 30, 2017 10:49 AM

Treasury had earlier this week paved the way for MPs to award themselves Sh2.5 billion for eight months between August and March 2018.

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Kenyan tax payers will be happy lot after news that legislators will not after all be awarded a Sh2.5 billion severance pay package.

Treasury had said the MPs can be paid the money as long as it's within Parliament's Sh36 billion allocation for 2017-18.

This is despite the fact that the current Parliament's term expires on August 8.

The MPs argued that they would not have served their full five year term since it will be cut short by the General Election on August 8.

The full five year time is expected to end in March 2018.

The total sendoff package would have been Sh12.9 million for each of the 349 members of the National Assembly and the 62 members of the Senate.

Multi-billion package deal

The "sweet" deal would have seen each of 418 lawmakers (both National Assembly and Senate) take home Sh6.2 million when Parliament is dissolved, pushing their total send-off package to Sh12.9 million.

However, the Parliamentary Service Commission Chairman Justin Muturi, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale and Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Mutava Musyimi have now said the payment was not factored for in the Budget.

The House Speaker Muturi said pay issues are squarely in the hands of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) as he criticised the media for making it appear as if MPs were going to get the money.

In December last year, MPs added an additional Sh5 billion to their send-off package.

This raised the budget ceiling from Sh31 billion proposed by Treasury to Sh36 billion.

dennis kibet