{"id":4378,"date":"2013-05-28T21:25:20","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T21:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/like-nigeria-kenyan-lawmakers-vote-for-pay-rise\/"},"modified":"2013-05-28T21:25:20","modified_gmt":"2013-05-28T21:25:20","slug":"like-nigeria-kenyan-lawmakers-vote-for-pay-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/like-nigeria-kenyan-lawmakers-vote-for-pay-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"Like Nigeria, Kenyan lawmakers vote for pay rise"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Just like their Nigerian counterparts, Kenyan lawmakers have voted themselves a pay rise, overturning cuts ordered by the national salaries commission and reinstating their hefty salaries, some of the best in the world.<\/p>\n

Their tax-free monthly salary in the previous parliament was cut by almost 40 percent by the government’s Salaries and Remuneration Commission to around 532,000 shillings, around 6,200 dollars (4,800 euros).<\/p>\n

But on Tuesday, lawmakers shrugged off the commission’s orders — and defied pleas from President Uhuru Kenyatta — to boost their pay back to 851,000 shillings, around 10,000 dollars (7,700 euros).<\/p>\n

The new pay however is modest compared with the obscene one Nigerian lawmakers appropriated for themselves, in terms of allowances. Under their pay structure, a Nigerian lawmaker in the Senate can take home about N40million a quarter, apart from the monthly wage officially approved.<\/p>\n

The pay hike by Kenya’s parliament is one of the first actions taken by lawmakers, elected on March 4, and puts their salaries at around a hundred times that of the basic minimum wage.<\/p>\n

Earlier efforts sparked public protests, but lawmakers said they were right to boost their pay.<\/p>\n

“We are not greedy at all … no one has powers to slash our pay without our authority,” said William Cheptumo as he presented the motion, which was overwhelmingly passed.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers said the commission — set up in 2011 as part of Kenya’s new constitution — had not followed proper rules.
“We are lawmakers and must be respected,” said parliamentarian Mithika Linturi, saying the commission has “no authority to set our salaries.”<\/p>\n

\"President <\/p>\n

President Uhuru Kenyatta: defied by parliament<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Earlier this month demonstrators staged a dramatic “greedy pig” protest outside parliament, releasing piglets and pouring blood on the pavement to protest at the proposed wage hike.<\/p>\n

The number of MPs in parliament also rose from 222 to 350 after new constituencies were created, making the reinstated salaries an extra burden on the taxpayer.<\/p>\n

In January, lawmakers voted themselves each a $ 107,000 send-off bonus — their last work before parliament closed ahead of elections — after earlier efforts to grant themselves the windfall were vetoed by the then President Mwai Kibaki.
That effort too was blocked.<\/p>\n

Tuesday’s vote also came amid a nationwide power blackout sparked by a transmission line failure.<\/p>\n

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