The government will save at least Sh382.2 million in plenary sitting allowances for the 416 members of the 13th Parliament after the salaries commission did away with them.
The National Assembly has 349 MPs while Senate has 67 members, all earning a uniform plenary sitting allowance of Sh5,000.
While the National Assembly holds four sittings a week, the Senate has three.
The decision by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to remove the MPs’ sitting allowances was communicated to the members of the National Assembly during a Speaker’s Kamukunji (an informal sitting of MPs) on Wednesday.
The 416 MPs will, however, get an enhanced taxable car grant of Sh10 million every five years – translating to about Sh7.55 million to buy a car with engine capacity not above 3000cc.
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The MPs’ committee sitting allowance has been retained. Currently, a committee chairperson gets 15,000 per sitting before tax, a vice-chairperson gets Sh10,000, while a member gets Sh8,000.
The salaries commission is in the process of converting the allowances into a standard package to be paid as part of allowances.
The proposal by the MPs to have them get a Sh1.2 million salary, same as what Court of Appeal judges get, was rejected by the SRC. This means that the Sh710,000 taxable salaries paid to MPs monthly will remain.
Yesterday, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi accused the SRC of treating the MPs unfairly. Mr Muturi said that whereas the constitution categorises MPs as state officers just like Cabinet secretaries and judges, among others, MPs have always received the short end of the stick.
“MPs are the only state officers without a house allowance yet they have two working stations — Parliament and their constituencies. The removal of the plenary sitting allowance means that the Executive will find it difficult to have its agenda in the House passed,” said Mr Muturi.
Mr Muturi is the chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission, which takes care of the welfare of the 416 MPs and parliamentary staff.
“There are those MPs who have confided to me that if they get re-elected in the 13 parliament, they will just be coming in the chamber to record attendance then leave,” said Mr Muturi.
Cabinet secretaries and Judges get a house allowance of about Sh400,000 a month. On top of this, the CSs, judges, and principal secretaries have a car grant of Sh7 million plus a government car fuelled by the taxpayer.
“The SRC is picking fights where there are none. Why mistreat the MPs when their colleagues around the world, including the neighbouring countries, are treated well?” asked the Speaker.
On top of the car grant, the MPs enjoy a mileage allowance. There is also a fixed car maintenance allowance paid at the rate of Sh356,525 a month. The mileage allowance is calculated based on the AA rates and the distance from Parliament Buildings.
MPs are required to produce a copy of the log book for the car they will use to travel to the county or constituency and a letter from the Ministry of Transport confirming the distances from Parliament Buildings to the home of a member using the “most direct route”.
Lawmakers are also entitled to a medical scheme of Sh10 million inpatient cover per family, Sh300,000 for outpatient cover, Sh150,000 for maternity and Sh75,000 for dental care. BY DAILY NATION