Kenyan civil activists carry coffins as they take to the streets in Nairobi, on January 16, 2013, during a ‘State Burial’ for the members of Kenyan parliament proposal to award themselves millions of shillings in a selfish send-off deal that included state funerals.
AFP
The salaries of Kenya’s parliamentarians have caused much anger over the years
The salaries of Kenya’s president and MPs will be slashed after next month’s fiercely contested elections in a move aimed at reducing the wage bill in the public sector, according to a government gazette signed by the chairwoman of the independent Salaries and Remunerations Commission.
The president’s gross salary will be cut from $16,000 to $14,000 (£12,400) a month, while that of MPs will fall from $7,200 to $6,100 a month.
Some of the perks of MPs, including a car grant and an allowance for attending plenary sessions of parliament, have also been abolished.
Kenya’s MPs are said to be among the highest paid in the world, especially after their allowances are added to their salaries.
After the last election, they caused huge controversy by resisting moves to cut their salaries, and even threatened to block the passage of the national budget.
This time, it will be more difficult to do that because the commission wants the MPs, along with the president and other elected officials, to agree to the cuts before they take the oath of office, says the BBC’s Anne Soy in the capital, Nairobi.
Led by Sarah Serem, the commission set the salaries of cabinet secretaries, or ministers, at $9,240 down from $10,560.
It hopes that the salar cut will save Kenya $88m a year.
The commission is a constitutionally created body which makes independent decisions regarding how much government officials should be paid.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is running for a second term in the 8 August poll, with veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga being his main challenger.