Event:

The Standard newspaper reported on May 30th 2013 that angry MPs have vowed to slash President Uhuru's salary and substantially reduce budgetary allocations to plunge independent commissions into a cash crisis as retaliation for opposition to their higher salaries. A group of lawmakers who have been leading calls for higher salaries with the tacit backing of a majority of Parliament warned they could hit back as early as Tuesday, when the National Assembly resumes after a brief break to begin budget approval hearings. The furious MPs are angry about opposition to them earning Shs. 850,000 monthly salary than Shs. 532,000 set by salaries commission. In a further blow for MPs late on Thursday, the high court ordered that MPs continue to earn the set salary until a suit filed before it is determined. The MPs intend to lower value-added tax (VAT), remove income tax for Kenyans earning Shs. 50,000 and below, and reduce the fuel levy. They plan this under the guise of helping out ordinary Kenyans, but in reality the intention is to blackmail Government. The lawmakers insisted that their idea was to "help the President and his government to reduce the public wage bill and free up resources for development".

Comment:

Members of Parliament have a long and dubious history of arm-twisting the Government in their quest for higher salaries and allowances. In January this year, the outgoing MPs forced the then Finance Minister Njeru Githae to effect an amendment to enable them take home millions of shillings as a golden send-off. This was, however, turned down by President Kibaki. Had the president agreed, each MP would have taken home at least Shs. 9.3 million. In addition, each of them would have gotten an armed bodyguard, a diplomatic passport and unlimited access to the executive lounge in all the airports within Kenya. This is in addition to a state funeral upon death!! In the late-night deal, the lawmakers quietly amended the law to be paid gratuity at 31 per cent of their Shs. 200,000 basic monthly salary for every year in service until August 27 2010 when the new Constitution was promulgated. After that date, until the end of their term, they passed that the 31 per cent should be on their gross pay of Shs. 851,000 per month for every year worked! All this happens while ordinary Kenyans are wallowing in poverty, they are under constant siege from marauding gangs in the continuing crime wave, the infrastructure has not been fully repaired in areas that experienced the recent floods, the health sector is already in ICU etc. This has been occasioned by the greed that emanates from the Capitalist ideology whose measure of things is benefit. Despite representing various political parties, self interest has united MPs to demand for higher salaries. The system is rigged against the poor as MPs are among the privileged few who had and still have the power to determine their own salaries!! In Islam, the salary to be paid to a worker is determined by the benefit derived from his/her effort and not merely based on a title as the MPs want. It is only in a Khilafah "Caliphate" state that the discrepancies in salary structures can be addressed as we all know that it is a matter of time before the Kenya government gives in to the demands by MPs.

Kassim Agesa

Member of Media Office Hizb ut Tahrir East Africa