Salaries and Remuneration Commission chairperson Sarah Serem. Photo/FILE
What you need to know:
The SRC says it has started investigations into alleged misuse of public funds at the counties and would take tough actions that include abolishing allowances that are being abused by MCAs.
The move is likely to lead to a fresh standoff with MCAs who have previously lobbied higher political offices to reverse SRC decisions.
Legal experts, citing constitutional provisions, say the SRC has a final say on MCAs’ pay and can withdraw or revise their allowances at will.
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has set the stage for another round of standoff with the Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) after it launched a fresh campaign to curb profligate spending in the counties.
The SRC says it has started investigations into alleged misuse of public funds at the counties and would take tough actions that include abolishing allowances that are being abused by MCAs, rekindling memories on allowance dispute last year that ended with a victory for the county ward representatives.
The investigations follow recent reports by the Auditor-General, the Controller of Budget, the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which have alleged widespread abuse of allowances by MCAs.
“We will first seek to substantiate the reports and determine the extent of misuse of public funds. If need be, we will abolish allowances that lend themselves to misuse of public funds,” said SRC chairperson Sarah Serem.
The move is likely to lead to a fresh standoff with MCAs who have previously lobbied higher political offices to reverse SRC decisions.
Legal experts, citing constitutional provisions, say the SRC has a final say on MCAs’ pay and can withdraw or revise their allowances at will.
“For MCAs and other state officers, the SRC has final powers to determine and set their pay,” said Mr Kimotho Waiganjo, a member of the Commission on Implementation of Constitution.
Last week, the SRC said its preliminary investigations had uncovered widespread abuse of the “facilitative allowances” that include sitting, travel and out-of-station allowances.
Also being investigated are reports that MCAs have hired support staff and put them on salaries paid from public coffers.
The MCAs are said to have made local arrangements to recruit between four and 10 assistants who are earning salaries as public officers, without seeking SRC advice as required by law.
But Mrs Serem would not state whether the SRC would demand refund from officials found culpable, only saying the matter would be addressed by different government agencies.
The statement on Friday came hot on the heels of reports by the CRA and Auditor General that indicate the MCAs have incurred billions of shillings on irrelevant overseas trips and out-of-station conference and accommodation facilities.
Last year, the MCAs refused to take part in the SRC’s job evaluation, saying the body did not have powers to review their work which is defined by the Constitution.
Instead, they resorted to a prolonged strike that only ended in December after the SRC ceded more ground and raised both their salaries and the facilitative allowances.
The basic salaries of MCAs went up by 56.3 per cent to Sh123,750 a month up from the previously published Sh79,200. Similarly, the deputy speakers got a 127.2 per cent increment to Sh180,000 a month while speakers took home Sh262,500 following a 16.7 per cent pay hike.
The MCAs are also eligible to Sh124,800 in sitting allowance, a mileage allowance of Sh39,528 and airtime worth Sh5,000 every month.
The SRC’s powers were also called to question last year after President Uhuru Kenyatta reversed his decision to deny MCAs a mortgage of Sh3 million and a Sh2 million in car loan.
“As far as the commission is concerned, the mortgage and car benefits are illegal,” SRC Commissioner Peter Oloo Aringo said on Friday.
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