In July 2017 the Parliamentary Services Commission (PSC) cut the pay of Kenya’s MPs to Sh621,250 per month. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the annual pay for Kenyans who are not fortunate enough to have been elected to parliament is Sh644,800 per year.

This disparity, however, is not enough for our elected representatives, they want more and they’ve got their noses in the trough to get it.

On December 15 the High Court suspended the decision of the PSC over MPs pay and perks, re-instituting, among other things, their monthly salary to a handy Sh710,000.

The High Court’s decision now awaits a hearing on revising MP’s pay package at the end of January. In the interim the people’s representatives are busy representing themselves.

WANT SH5 MILLION FOR A CAR?

The PSC had introduced a loan system in which MPs could get good terms on a Sh7 million loan to buy a car. That has now been replaced by a Sh5 million grant available to each MP for car purchase. To date, according to a report in The Star newspaper, over 300 MPs (out of 416) have applied for the lucrative grant.

KENYA’S MPS – SH1.1 MILLION PER MONTH

But that’s not all.

MPs sitting in Kenya’s 12th Parliament are also entitled to a Sh5,000 ‘sitting allowance’ for each committee sitting they attend (Sh10,000 for committee chairmen and Sh8,000 for vice-chairmen); a mortgage of Sh20 million; and ‘transport mileage’ (well you can’t run a Sh5 million car without fuel!)

Put it all together and that takes Kenya’s MPs to a monthly salary of Sh1.1 million including allowances.

So Kenya’s MPs, some of the highest paid elected representatives in the world, ‘earn’ over 20 times as much as the average Kenyan.