Members of County Assemblies take home Sh1.36 billion in six months to December, down from Sh1.44 billion in a similar period in 2014.
MCAs earn sitting allowances for attending committee meetings as well as debates on the floor of the house.
Sitting allowances paid to Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) dropped for the first time since the representatives took office, data from the Controller of Budget shows.
The data indicates that in the six months to December, the MCAs received Sh1.36 billion, down from Sh1.44 billion in a similar period in 2014. In the first half of financial year 2013/2014, counties spent Sh1.1 billion on sitting allowances for MCAs.
The 2,259 MCAs and speakers’ sitting allowances have been growing since 2013 and take up a huge chunk of county government revenues at the expense of development with the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo calling for their re-assessment.
The continuous growth of MCAs’ sitting allowances has put them in the same league with top corporate executives and earned them negative sentiments among Kenyans who view them as greedy individuals who seek public office for personal gain.
MCAs earn sitting allowances for attending committee meetings as well as debates on the floor of the house.
Attempts to tame the spending on MCAs have not been successful, with the representatives ignoring calls including from President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The latest data now shows that on average, each of the MCAs received an average Sh100, 974 per month in the review period, down from Sh106, 371 paid out in a similar period in 2014.
Uasin Gishu MCAs saw the biggest drop with each ward representative’s sitting allowance dropping from an average Sh312,339 to Sh63,289 per month.Murang’a MCAs also took a shave from an average Sh121,348 to Sh47,202.
In Turkana, the MCAs sitting allowances dropped from an average of Sh143,722 to Sh72,934 per month.
Siaya MCAs saw their average monthly sitting allowances drop from Sh142,995 to Sh81,786.
Kwale MCAs siting allowances earnings dropped from Sh122,558 to Sh67,191
The MCAs who earned the highest from sitting allowances are those from Marsabit (Sh178,635) followed by Migori (Sh164,729) and Samburu (Sh163,221) per month.
The least sitting allowances were paid to MCAs of Tharaka-Nithi (Sh40,910), Murang’a (Sh47,202) and Baringo (Sh50,041) per month.
The drop will ease pressure on MCAs who have been criticised for pocketing millions through these generous perks while offering lacklustre service.
The CoB report indicates that 12 county assemblies exceeded the Sh124,800 per month ceiling fixed by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for monthly sitting allowances.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
