Taxpayers to fork out Sh342m for extra 190 MPs’ salary bill

• Kenyans to shoulder this additional burden if majority vote for draft law

An additional 190 MPs will cost taxpayers more than Sh342 million monthly in salaries and other allowances if Kenyans vote for the draft constitution.

The creation of 80 new constituencies, 47 seats for women MPs and a 63-member Senate is part of the proposals that came out of the Naivasha review of the draft constitution by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC).

The current annual budget for Parliament’s consolidated salaries (with some of the allowances paid as part of the salary) is Sh2.2 billion.

With a five per cent annual pay increase “to cushion the MPs from the rising cost of living”, the MPs’ salaries budget will hit Sh7.5 billion come 2017.

A breakdown for 190 additional MPs shows that they will draw Sh227 million in salaries and non-taxable allowances, Sh36.4 million for mileage claims, Sh19.25 million for foreign travel, Sh36 million for medical cover and Sh24 million to maintain their constituency offices.

The prospect of increased demand for money from the Exchequer means higher taxes for the rest of the public, while the MPs continue to enjoy tax-free allowances.

The annual expenditure in salaries of the extra MPs is Sh2.7 billion, Sh436 million for mileage claims, Sh231 million for foreign travel, Sh436 million for medical cover and Sh288 million for their constituency offices.

These calculations are made from the moderate assumption that MPs will not seek a further raise to their proposed Sh896,000 monthly pay and the average of Sh300,000 in monthly sitting allowances, which bring their total income to at least Sh1.196 million every month.

From the Nation’s calculations, in early 2013, the time when the new law is expected to take effect, the Exchequer will have to part with Sh11.8 billion to settle all new MPs, including the extra ones plus senators, into their new roles in their first year.

Assuming again that only 36 per cent of the MPs of the 10th Parliament are re-elected, we are looking at 135 new faces in the House come 2013.

This assumption on the re-election numbers is based on an international study by iiG research consortium, which assessed the 2007 elections. The study noted that in the elections, 183 out of 210 outgoing MPs were contending for re-election. Of those only 77 were re-elected.

It will be hard to pay senators less, because in as much as they belong to the lower House, they are still MPs.

When the new law comes into play, Parliament’s budget for salaries alone will be Sh493 million per month. Thus, we are looking at a Sh5.9 billion wage bill to cater for the 412 lawmakers (222 current MPs plus 190 new ones), in an economy growing at less than three per cent per year.

Parliamentary Service Commission vice-chairman Walter Nyambati supports the new electoral units, saying: “Any country has an obligation to take care of its leaders.”

So in 2013, with a brand new constitution, taxpayers will have to pamper 325 MPs to make them settle into the “honourable” lifestyle.

The Sh3.3 million free money to buy a huge sports utility vehicle (SUV) for each of the new faces will gulp Sh1.1 billion from the national coffers in early 2013.

With many new MPs taking house loans of at least Sh8 million for their Nairobi residences, another Sh2.6 billion will be splashed on houses in plush estates for the new lawmakers. They will pay this money over five years, or if they get lucky to get back for a second term, over 10 years.

Medical cover

For the good health of the MPs, the 325 new faces will get good medical cover of Sh572,000 every year. The total amount to keep the doctors happy and the waheshimiwa healthy will be Sh1.9 billion.

With 80 new electoral units and a current constituency office budget of Sh756 million, we are looking at an extra Sh288 million. That is Sh1.04 billion annually for the constituency offices.

The much touted Constituency Development Fund, which in this year’s budget was Sh13 billion (2.5 per cent of ordinary revenues), will definitely rise.

Going by the current rate of an average of at least Sh60 million per constituency, then the CDF bill will rise to Sh17.4 billion – an extra Sh4.4 billion.

But perhaps with the devolution of both power and resources as proposed by the PSC, the CDF will be abolished. The question is: Will the MPs accept that?

The mileage claims to be filed by MPs are also set to strain the taxpayer further because whenever the lawmakers travel out of Nairobi, they are paid for it.

This fiscal year, Parliament set aside Sh510 million for the 222 lawmakers. With 412 MPs in 2013, assuming again the rates will not rise, we get Sh946.5 million – an extra Sh436.5 million.

For foreign trips – to allow the honourable men and women to see the London Eye and the Eiffel Tower in Paris or even to sample the nightlife in Rotterdam – the taxpayer will have to fork out Sh502 million. This is an extra Sh231 million.

After dutifully serving for five years in 2017, each of the lawmakers will take home Sh1.5 million as “winding up allowance”.