Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) are set to enjoy a pay hike despite public pressure for a pay cut.
Under the new structure by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), MPs and senators will earn Sh739,600, up from Sh725,502.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi will earn Sh800,019 each, up from Sh784,768.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula and Senate Speaker Amason Kingi will receive gross salaries of Sh1,208,362, up from Sh1,185,327, while their deputies Gladys Shollei and Kathuri Murungi will earn Sh966,690, up from Sh948,261.
Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) will now earn Sh164,588 from the current Sh144,375 while governors will get Sh1,056,000 from Sh924,000.
The pay hike for elected leaders is likely to spark more outrage among Kenyans who are in their third week of protests against the Kenya Kwanza administration.
This comes a day after President William Ruto said he was not in a position to reduce the salaries of MPs and other elected leaders, noting that it needed a whole-nation approach.
“I have seen them saying that we are going to reduce the salaries of MPs to Sh200,000 or something like that. Some of these things are not within my power, these are things where we need a whole nation approach,” Ruto said during a roundtable interview.
In 2023, President Ruto rejected the SRC’s plan to increase his and Deputy President Rigathi Gacahgua’s salaries.
Instead, the Head of State directed SRC to come up with an internationally recognized system to reduce the gap between civil servants’ salaries.
“I have told SRC that there is an internationally accepted formula called compression formula. Until they come back to me and say they have met that formula, our salary increment will wait. But for the other people, the state officers, myself, my deputy, ministers, PSs, MPs and others. That salary would remain the way it is,” said Ruto.
Also Read: Kenya’s Political Paradox: High Salaries, Low Governance
