New pay hike for MPs

• REVEALED: Akiwumi tribunal awards Raila higher salary than Kalonzo

• Gives modest increase for Speaker Marende

• Doubles allowances for members

• Wants more spacious building for Parliament

Under the Akiwumi team’s proposals, MPs will still take home a salary of Sh896,000 a month, Sh46,000 more than their present entitlement.

And they will have their sitting allowance when attending committees doubled to Sh10,000 per sitting up from the present Sh5,000 per sitting.

But on any given day, an MP will only take home a maximum of Sh15,000 from committee sittings.

The amount paid to an MP attending parliamentary sittings will be retained at the current rate of Sh5,000 payable even to those who only make a technical appearance to comply with the requirement.

Female MPs will qualify for compensation for losing sitting allowance when on maternity leave.

A training programme will be organised for MPs on investment to end the present situation where some of them over-commit their salaries on loans, causing them financial embarrassment, the tribunal recommends.

The committee visited South Africa and Uganda to study MPs’ remuneration before preparing their report.

Civil service boss Francis Muthaura had opposed any pay increase for MPs citing, bad economic times and disparities in salary scales in the public sector.

He had argued that any increase would distort remuneration in the public sector.

The tribunal recommended that a new site be found for construction of new precincts of the National Assembly to accommodate a new chamber, offices, parking space, dining hall, restrooms, reading rooms be found.

It recommended that the Parliamentary Service commission’s strategic plan 2008 to 2018 be updated to include plans for the creation of a hospital, restrooms, nursing cubicles, and baby sitting centres, establishment of a guest centre for MPs’ guests and electronic voting machine in the Chamber.

Newly-elected MPs will be taken through six months of induction through workshops, courses and orientation to train them on community and resource mobilisation, setting up of programmes, efficiency, public relations, addressing the news media, presentation and leadership among others.