Members of Parliament payback Sh460 million received irregularly

Members of Parliament have finished paying back irregular allowances they received between October 2018 and December 2020 as was ruled by the court.

The allowances which amounted to Sh460 million were deducted from the legislators’ salaries beginning December 2021, the National Assembly Clerk Michael Sialai confirmed.

According to Sialai, the monies were deducted to conform to the orders give by High court Judges Pauline Nyamweya, Weldon Korir and John Mativo ruling.

The ruling supported the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) which had gone to court challenging the decision by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) which gave each of the 418 legislators a monthly pay of Sh250,000 for accommodation and house allowance, an amount that lacked the approval of the SRC.

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SRC Chaiperson Lyn Cherop Mengich SRC Chaiperson Lyn Cherop Mengich Pulse Live Kenya

“It was a painful decision but we had to do it in compliance with the court order We have now fully complied, the end of June was the last deduction,” Sialai said.

Sialai said that the members of parliament were deducted between Sh169, 000 and Sh172,000 adding that some MPs also paid what they owed in cash while others had to get their salaries slashed.

“Some members opted to pay out what they owed in cash while for others we had to do the monthly deductions which we are now done with, so there is no member that is finishing his term with that public debt,” Sialai noted.

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Attempts by the members of parliament through the Parliamentary Service Commission to counter the decision by the High Court through the court of appeal was shot down as the appellate court upheld the decision by the High Court judges.