MCAs sitting perks doubles to Sh1bn despite austerity push

Allowances paid to members of county assemblies more than doubled in six months to last December, defying an austerity drive to curb non-essential expenditure.

Data from the Controller of Budget (CoB) shows sitting allowances paid to MCAs increased to Sh1.08 billion from the Sh422 million earned during the same period the previous year.

The 156 percent rise in sitting allowance expense comes amid an austerity push by the Treasury to free up cash for development and essential services such as health and education.

This means that the taxpayers’ benefits that come with the 2017 cut on State officers' perks and benefits have been wiped out.

“The expenditure translated to 38.9 percent of the approved budget and an increase by 156.5 percent compared to a similar period last year when a total of Sh422 million was incurred,” said the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo in the report.

During the period under review, the county assemblies spent Sh1.08 billion on MCAs sitting allowances against an approved budget of Sh2.78 billion for the full year.

In the six months to December 2017, the allowances dropped to Sh422 million from the previous year’s Sh1.28 billion. The drop was due to the absence of meetings before and shortly after the August 2017 General Election and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) cut on perks. In July 2017, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) abolished MCAs’ mileage reimbursements, sitting allowances for plenary sessions and special responsibility perks.

Sh80,000

The reviews meant that the new crop of representatives elected on August 8, 2017, were not expected to earn monthly sitting perks exceeding Sh80,000, down from the previous Sh124,800.

In December, the High Court overturned SRC’s decision, restoring MCA’s allowances and wages after establishing that the SRC failed to study the labour market and conduct a comprehensive job evaluation a year before the pay review as the law demands.

The Controller of Budget has also restored the meeting allowance cap of Sh124, 800.

The allowances have been on a steady rise since the MCAs took office in May 2013, causing concern that the perks were gobbling up county government revenues, with minimal corresponding impact in terms of public service.

Sought-after job

The perks paid to MCAs had made the position the most sought-after job in Kenya’s politics.

The sitting perk along with the basic salary, travel and airtime allowance pushed the MCA’s monthly pay to about Sh300, 000, before SRC cut them to about Sh200,000 monthly.

In the six months to December, Kakamega paid its 88 MCAs an average of Sh126,699 per month, surpassing SRC’s recommended pay of Sh124,800.

Nakuru’s 79 MCAs earned an average of Sh117,462 per month while their 39 counterparts in Vihiga took home Sh116,624 in monthly sitting allowance.

This is in comparison to their more frugal counterparts in Baringo, Machakos and Embu who received the least from meetings at Sh5,460, Sh27,813 and Sh28,310 a month respectively.