Just a day after President Uhuru Kenyatta suggested a pay cut for politicians and over 700,000 public servants to contain the ballooning wage bill, Members of Parliament have allocated themselves an additional Sh6.5 billion in the national budget.
The budget set for unveiling next week, which is likely as compensation for the reduced term in office by eight months, earlier was opposed by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission ion fear that the whole politicians, from MCAs to senators and governors would demand for the same.
The budget of the Parliamentary Service Commission, which employs MPs that was tabled on Wednesday evening indicating the huge extra allocation, cannot be explained.
Legislators have firmly pushed for an award of a severance pay to cover the eight-month reduction of the usual five-year term that should have ended in March 2018.
Prior estimates had placed the cumulative amount demanded by the MPs at Sh3.7 billion, implying that the payout is actually higher.
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The Constitution-prescribed election date of August 8 will be preceded by the dissolution of the current Parliament where opinion polls have indicated more than half would not be re-elected. National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich will unveil an earlier-than usual budget next Thursday which includes the enhanced package.
New estimates for the Parliamentary Service Commission tabled indicate that the total allocation has shot to a record Sh23.4 billion.
Despite the jump, the development budget used to acquire new property for the Public Service Commission reduced significantly, from Sh4.5 billion to Sh1 billion.
Irrespective of the huge anticipated payout, President Uhuru Kenyatta has already protested at the current pay which places an MP's monthly salary at about Sh1.1 million.
President Uhuru Kenyatta told the legislators, in a joint sitting, in his address to the nation on Wednesday, that he had received a report of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, which had proposed huge pay cuts for elected officers and state officials.
"This report recommends, amongst other measures, a rationalization of the salaries and allowances paid to senior state officers, public servants, elected officials from MCA all the way to the President," Kenyatta said.
He added that the proposals, when implemented, will result in a reduction in salaries and allowances for those elected in August this year.
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"As your President, and as a Kenyan, I fully support the recommendations of the SRC and I call upon all of us to adopt these recommendations."
After a joint sitting Treasury and the Salaries and Remunerations Commission opposed a plan to pay the lawmakers "severance allowance" amounting to Sh2.4 billion in the current year's mini budget, legislators sneaked their demands into the next budget slated for reading next week Thursday.
Earlier, MPs had dropped the demand in the mini-budget and agreed to submit a budget of Sh40.2 billion, Sh5 billion less than what they initially wanted.