MPs to live rent-free at taxpayers’ expense

Members of the National Assembly and the Senate have secretly pocketed nearly Sh1 billion in house allowances they bulldozed through despite opposition from the Treasury and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

The allowances, adding up to Sh936 million, comprise a Sh250,000 monthly allowance for each of the 416 members of the two Houses, backdated to August last year when their employer, the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), resolved to pay house allowances over and above their mortgages.

The new allowance comes at a time when the government is implementing austerity measures to finance the Jubilee government’s Big Four agenda.

Sources in Parliament’s Budget Office confided in the Saturday Nation that each MP had pocketed Sh2.25 million in their pay for April, the allowance amount backdated to August last year.

STATE OFFICERS

On Friday, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi defended the new allowances, saying lawmakers, just like other state officers, are entitled to such benefits.

“MPs are state officers as defined in the Constitution. Now, if you look at the terms and conditions in the Public Service, all the other state officers get housing allowance. Why not MPs?” Mr Muturi said on phone.

He added: “A mortgage is not a must. We cannot force everybody to buy a house in Nairobi, so there are those who just want to get house allowance and pay rent in Nairobi and go back to their houses say in Kakamega or elsewhere.”

Mr Muturi maintained that other state officers such as chief administrative secretaries (CASs) are entitled not only to official cars and house allowances, but also mortgages.

“For example, CASs, some of them who lost to some of these MPs, are given cars, a house allowance, and then they are also given a mortgage,” he said. But reached for comment, SRC disowned the new allowance, terming it illegal.

PROPOSALS

SRC chairperson Lyn Mengich told Saturday Nation that the commission was not aware of any house allowance due to lawmakers and warned that it was illegal for MPs to pocket such huge allowances without approval.

“I am not aware. The SRC is mandated to set salaries and remuneration of all state officers. A house allowance definitely falls under remuneration,” Ms Mengich said on phone.

National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi declined to comment on the matter, referring the Saturday Nation to the PSC.

“Issues of salaries is one that concerns the Parliamentary Service Commission. That question should therefore be directed to PSC,” he said.

The house allowance issue was initially among the proposals contained in the Parliamentary Service Bill, which has gone through the second reading and now awaits the third reading in the house.

Other proposals in the bill, majority of which are based on recommendations from the National Assembly Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, is for speakers of both Houses and majority leaders in both chambers to be provided with a rent-free house, a government vehicle, an expanded medical cover, travel allowances and an expanded constituency outreach operation.

Another proposal is for the 416 members and both speakers to be given official residences or a “suitable house allowance” in line with the Employment Act.

LAWSUIT

A senior parliamentary official who sought anonymity because he is not entitled to speak on behalf of the PSC confirmed that the new allowance had been effected.

“It was a PSC resolution,” he said. The Saturday Nation learnt that the new allowances were not only opposed by SRC and the National Treasury, but also by Parliament’s own technical staff.

“There was a series of back and forth correspondence between Parliament, the SRC and National Treasury on the legality of the move, but all these protestations were disregarded by the MPs,” a senior Treasury official told Saturday Nation on Friday.

According to the official, the National Treasury’s objections were based on the constitutional provision that classifies MPs as state officers.

“The Treasury’s position is that lawmakers are state officers and the legal framework of their terms and conditions of service is the SRC Act,” said the source.

A source said that SRC planned to move to court to challenge the payment once it confirms that the monies have been paid against its advice.

“We are going to demand proof of the same from the National Treasury through the Ifmis and ensure the public interest is protected,” said a top SRC official.

PENSION

On Friday, a senior Jubilee politician confirmed he had received the money. He further confirmed Parliament’s Finance department had questioned the payments.

“There is an aspect of illegality in the payments. We are walking a tightrope,” the MP said.

This comes at a time the Treasury has set aside Sh1.5 billion to cater for the retirement benefits of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and retired vice presidents, including Kalonzo Musyoka, underlining the burden of keeping former state officials comfortable in retirement.

Budget documents tabled in Parliament show an allocation of Sh1.5 billion as gratuity for retired presidents under an expenditure line that is being introduced for the first time.

The allocation comes weeks after Mr Odinga and Mr Kalonzo made a formal application for the lavish pension offered retired vice presidents.

A source at the Treasury said the budget line labelled “Retired Presidents” will cater for retired state officers, whose pension is captured under the Deputy President and Designated State Officers Act, including National Assembly speakers, chief justices and their deputies as well vice presidents.

“We created the new budget line to accommodate retired officers under the Deputy President Retirement law,” said a top Treasury official who sought anonymity.

“We have many people who qualify as per the law seeking the benefits, hence the need for a new budget line,” the source said.