Ward reps reject SRC offer, vow to abscond duty
What you need to know:
- Mr Abdirashid accused SRC chairperson Sarah Serem of playing politics with the salaries issue, saying the Sh185,000, she claimed MCAs were getting, was merely allowances.
More than 30 ward representatives from the various counties have vowed not to resume work until the impasse with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission is resolved.
Speaking in Naivasha at the weekend after attending a Public Accounts Committee meeting, a Garissa County Assembly member, Mr Mustafa Abdirashid, said that the “de facto” union that had been mandated to agitate for the welfare of the County Reps’s was the “county assembly forum.”
“Any other organisation purporting to speak on behalf of Members of County Assemblies is a splinter group that has no knowledge of the demands raised by the MCA’s,” he said.
Mr Abdirashid accused SRC chairperson Sarah Serem of playing politics with the salaries issue, saying the Sh185,000, she claimed MCAs were getting, was merely allowances.
“It common knowledge that people survive on their salaries and not allowances,” quipped the County Rep.
Laikipia County Assembly member Rose Maitai said the issue of the MCA salaries was a genuine one, noting: “We are not asking for a pay rise to have money in our pockets, but to be able to effectively discharge our duties.”
She accused Ms Serem of applying the divide and rule tactic and failing to show effective leadership.
Ms Maitai said increment of the allowances alone was not panacea to the salary problem, adding that the SRC chair picked a few people purporting to agitate for the rights of all MCAs.
“As for now, we remain adjourned until our demands are met,” she added.
Another Assembly member, Mr Chris Nakitare, said the offer made by SRC “did not make sense in the world of finance.”
Practically, he explained, it would not be possible to repay the Sh5 million loan offered to them with a Sh79,000 salary, saying some might end up not cleared to contest in 2017.
