MPs barred from raising their pay
Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) chairperson Sarah Serem (left), Vice chairperson David Ogutu (right) and other SRC commissioners appearing before Budget and appropriations committee chairman. MPs’ bid to set their own pay received a major blow on Wednesday after the High Court ruled that such powers were only vested on the salaries team. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- A three-judge bench said only the Salaries and Remuneration Commission has the power to set the remuneration of all State officers, including Members of Parliament.
- Temporary orders had been issued by Mr Justice David Majanja last year as demanded by the LSK to stop the Parliamentary Service Commission from paying the legislators salaries other than those set by the SRC.
- The LSK had wanted a declaration that the salaries set by the SRC are the lawful remunerations of legislators.
MPs’ bid to set their own pay received a major blow yesterday after the High Court ruled that such powers were only vested on the salaries team.
A three-judge bench said only the Salaries and Remuneration Commission has the power to set the remuneration of all State officers, including Members of Parliament.
Judges Isaac Lenaola, Mumbi Ngugi and Weldon Korir ruled that the National Assembly exceeded its powers when it quashed the gazette notices issued by the salaries commission to set their salaries.
The three judges also ruled that the National Assembly and Remuneration Act is unconstitutional.
TEMPORARY ORDERS
The ruling was for two cases — one challenging the increment of MPs’ salaries filed by activist Okiya Omtatah for the Uzalendo Institute for Leadership and Democracy, and a second filed by the Law Society of Kenya.
Temporary orders had been issued by Mr Justice David Majanja last year as demanded by the LSK to stop the Parliamentary Service Commission from paying the legislators salaries other than those set by the SRC.
The salaries team set the monthly salary of an MP at Sh532,000, but the lawmakers complained that the amount was inadequate and pushed to have their pay raised to Sh850,000.
The LSK had wanted a declaration that the salaries set by the SRC are the lawful remunerations of legislators.
It argued that the PSC had no constitutional mandate to pay the new salaries, but to only enforce the Gazette Notices of salaries issued by the SRC.
Mr Omtatah had argued that the MPs violated the Constitution and encroached on the mandate of the Judiciary when they revoked the notices issued by SRC and set new salaries for themselves.
Following the suits, the chairman of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya, Mr Patrick Mtange, cautioned that the current state of the economy could not support the MPs’ demands.
The accountant expressed fear that the public debt would rise further should the government yield to the MPs’ demands for higher pay and allowances.
