By leading the whistling charade by a group of ODM Members of Parliament against President Uhuru Kenyatta in Parliament last week, Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi may have literally blown his payslip to the wind as it emerges he will now earn a meagre Sh8,752 per month for at least one year.
The MP apparently may not have understood the stark implications of being suspended for the remainder of the session, as he defied three warnings by National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, but now sources at the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) say the reality will hit him hard as he will take home slightly over Sh8,000.
A source that is privy to salaries of MPs said Wandayi, like majority of Members, had already committed nearly his entire basic salary to mortgages and other loans which he will service to the end of his term.
The suspension, enforced according to Standing Order number 111, means the MP will not lose his seat since it is not by choice that he will miss mandatory sittings, but he will not earn any allowances which most MPs survive on while their basic salaries are attached to other commitments.
“Some MPs earn zero basic salary but the allowances from committee sittings, mileage and official travel are big enough to live on. When those are terminated, a Member is completely exposed,” said a PSC source.
Benefits Wandayi has lost include sitting allowances both in the Chamber and committees, mileage allowances, travel allowances both local and international which vary from destination to destination, managing the Constituency Development Fund kitty, CDF allowances, their security detail and access to his constituency offices at Continental House and in the constituency.
The benefits
“He will virtually be an ordinary civilian, he cannot even take tea at the Parliament Canteen or pick his letters from the MPs’ pigeon holes,” said the PSC source.
MPs are entitled to a combined salary and allowances that total to at least Sh1.1 million per month. The salary alone of a member stands at Sh532,500 which is subjected to 30 percent taxation.
Allowances push the earnings to at least Sh1.1 million or more depending on an MP’s commitment to attending Chamber and committee sittings and claiming mileage and travel allowances.
In the Chamber an MP is entitled to Sh5,000 per sitting which is Sh80,000 per for 16 monthly sittings, excluding committee sittings for which they earn a similar figure. However, committee sittings can be more than 16 per month depending on demand. Committees also take MPs to numerous local and foreign travel for which allowances are hefty and varied.
On the other hand mileage claims is a benefit that MPs enjoy pegged at Sh109 per kilometre for up to 750km per week while any additional travel distance is compensated at the rate of Sh76.30 per kilometre as approved by the Automobile Association of Kenya.
When reached for comment Wandayi, who apparently had absorbed the full impact of his punishment, said he would not be taking action over the matter even as he declined to comment on the financial impact of the suspension.
“I will not comment on this, it is a matter that the party (ODM) will deal with, I have nothing to say,” the usually vocal MP said on phone.
However, a group of ODM) MPs threatened to move to court this week to seek orders declaring Standing Order 111 inconsistent with Article 47 of the constitution.
Led by the ODM party Chairman John Mbadi, the lawmakers vowed to challenge the clause and save Wandayi from the one year ban from Parliament, as they accused Muturi of being biased against the lot that blew whistles to try to stop the President’s State of the Nation Address.
By yesterday, plans had kicked off in Ugunja for another person to take over the MP’s role in the CDF office.
Forcefully evicted
Other counterparts of Wandayi who blew whistles, Senator Moses Kajwang (Homa Bay), MPs Tom Kajwang (Ruaraka), Millie Odhiambo (Mbita), John Mbadi (Suba), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay) and Fred Outa (Nyando) promptly walked out of the Chamber when they were cited by the Speaker without waiting for the Sergeant-at-Arms and orderlies to evict them forcefully.
Talking to People Daily, National assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said that unlike Wandayi who resisted an order to exit and drew the wrath of Standing Order 111 to himself, the rest who moved out will face the Powers and Privileges Committee that will probe their conduct.
“Apart from Wandayi’s case the other Standing Orders are weak, they were made for a gentleman,” said Muturi.
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