Don't threaten Parliament, Speaker Muturi tells commissions

The Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi has said the Salaries and Remuneration Commission and the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution should not "threaten" Parliament.

Mr Muturi, who is the chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) said that the SRC and CIC were “speaking per incuriam”.

“The SRC derives its mandate from the Constitution, but the method that it shall then follow when doing its job is in the SRC Act. She (SRC chairman Sarah Serem) is supposed to bring her proposals to Parliament. Read section 26(2) of the SRC Act,” Mr Muturi told the Nation Wednesday.

The Speaker, who is in Turkey, issued a veiled threat to the two commissions not to “threaten Parliament”.

“They should tread carefully. They should not threaten Parliament. Are they out of their minds? Parliament will take action and we’ll see where they will go,” said Mr Muturi in a telephone interview.

He said the PSC will sit to determine how it will execute the House resolution, which some MPs such as the Deputy Leader of Minority Party Jakoyo Midiwo and PSC member Jimmy Angwenyi had asked for immediate implementation.

“I am seized of this matter,” said Mr Muturi.

The Speaker’s comments came as the SRC invoked the name of President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and the civil society for backing the push to reduce the public wage bill.

Ms Serem said there was no division in the commission as alleged by MPs.

Peter Oloo Aringo who was picked by the PSC to sit in the SRC added: “We are unanimous in the policy position. We must rise beyond politics and become statesmen.”

Ms Serem said the salaries commission will not be intimidated because the truth is, the public wage bill had to be brought to “fiscally sustainable levels”.

“It is a job we have to do and we’ll do it to the best of our ability. It is a task that requires the cooperation of every Kenyan who has the interest of the country at heart,” said Ms Serem.

She added: “The task we are handling is not about SRC. It is about Kenya and its sustainability. It is about our ability to use the resources of this country to benefit the majority of Kenyans. It is about the posterity of this nation. It is about the future of our children and the legacy we want to leave to the future generations.”

Ms Serem said the commission’s doors were open for dialogue.

The focus is now on the Parliamentary Service Commission and the Clerks of Parliament to see if they will pay MPs Sh851,000 as per the National Assembly Remuneration Act, or if the payment will be Sh532,500 as prescribed by the SRC.