The committee reinstated Sh3.81 billion in the recurrent budget to cater for operations and maintenance expenses for Parliament.
It also increased by Sh1.9 billion the development budget of the House for general administration, planning and support services under the PSC.
The PSC has maintained that budget cuts will exacerbate the current shortage of office accommodation for MPs, some of whom rent space at the central business district and the KICC.
MPs Tuesday overturned the Treasury’s budget cuts targeting their travel allowance, office rent and work station refurbishment.
They awarded themselves Sh7.2 billion under operations and maintenance budget of Parliament, the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) and Constituency Development Fund (CDF). The PSC, the MPs employer, opposed the decision to cut Sh9.2 billion from Parliament budget and asked the special committee reviewing the mini- budget to reject it in full.
The budget cuts reduced MPs travel cash from Sh6.51 billion to Sh4 billion and legislators’ office upgrade costs to Sh95 million from Sh380 million.
“The areas targeted by the Treasury are a no-go zone for us because it affects the core mandate of the legislature.
We are not in a position where we are able to give even a shilling. It is difficult for us to identify a single area for cuts,” Jeremiah Nyegenye, the secretary to the PSC told an ad hoc committee scrutinising the Supplementary Budget.
The committee reinstated Sh3.81 billion in the recurrent budget to cater for operations and maintenance expenses for Parliament.
It also increased by Sh1.9 billion the development budget of the House for general administration, planning and support services under the PSC.
The PSC has maintained that budget cuts will exacerbate the current shortage of office accommodation for MPs, some of whom rent space at the central business district and the KICC.
The PSC said the reduction in the budget will force MPs to close their constituency offices, sack staff and risk facing legal suits arising from contractual breaches.
