Politics
Kenya: Protesters and civil society score big win – force legislators to take pay cut
But Kenya’s newly-elected legislators rejected that ruling soon after coming to power and in May overwhelmingly voted to raise their pay back to the old rate – many times higher than the country’s minimum wage.
Kenyatta urged the legislators to have a rethink, and the salaries commission said on Wednesday a deal had been struck.
The legislators argue that they need high wages because constituents expect them to provide charitable support.
The new pay amounted to Ksh 532,000 (US$ 6,228) a month. France and India – both with higher per capita income compared to Kenya – pay lawmakers the equivalent of about Ksh 522,000 (US$ 6,111) and Ksh 584,000 (US$ 6,836) respectively, the salaries commission said earlier this year.
“It was a compromise on both sides, a retreat for MPs in the face of public pressure. It also allows the salaries commission to save face, although it yielded ground,” said Macharia Munene, a lecturer on international relations at the United States International University in Nairobi.
