Members of Parliament have rejected the Parliamentary Service Commission’s (PSC) proposal to raise the salaries of their staff.
According to sources in the Parliament Liaison Office, lawmakers rejected the PSC’s new salary structure for employees.
The PSC established the Liaison Office to facilitate and oversee the operations of constituency offices.
It makes it easier for constituency offices to pay staff salaries, office operating expenses, and rent.
The lawmakers argue that their office is political, and they should be free to hire and pay whomever they want.
The MPs also rejected the PSC’s qualifications for the staff to be hired, claiming that they know the best people to work with.
The commission insisted on constituency managers having at least a bachelor’s degree, but MPs reduced the requirement to a diploma.
Personal assistants and ward coordinators were expected to have a bachelor’s degree as well, but MPs said the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) was sufficient.
They did, however, keep the degree qualification for researchers.
An MP is expected to hire at least one researcher from the budget provided to assist him or her on legislative topics discussed in the House.
“You cannot tie us down on who to employ. This is a political office,” said a lawmaker who asked not to be named.
An office assistant and security guard would earn a maximum of Sh87,000 and a minimum of Sh35,000 per month under the PSC structure that was rejected by MPs.
However, MPs insist that the minimum wage remain at Sh16,000, with the maximum at their discretion.
Constituency office managers who earned a minimum monthly salary of Sh100,000 in the 12th Parliament were to be paid up to Sh259,000 with a minimum of Sh115,500.
Despite the fact that the minimum monthly salary for managers is Sh100,000, many MPs in the previous Parliament only paid Sh70,000.
Personal assistants to MPs in the 12th Parliament earned a monthly salary of Sh65,000, while office assistants earned Sh20,000. PAs were to be paid a maximum of Sh163,500 and a minimum of Sh69,000 under the new structure.
A driver was paid Sh40,000 per month, whereas an office secretary was paid Sh30,000. They were both set at a maximum of Sh129,000 and a minimum of 45,000.
County, constituency, ward coordinator, field officer, accounts assistant, and procurement assistant will each receive Sh69,000 to Sh163,500 per month under the new PSC structure.
The commission established the new structure in its resolution paper 1490 on the salary conversion table.
“The constituency office manager shall be the highest paid staff. No worker shall be paid less than Sh35,000 a month,” the guidelines read.
Currently, there is no salary cap for people hired by lawmakers because the commission only sets the minimum wage.
The structure was devised by the commission because MPs pay their employees differently.
And, as in the 12th Parliament, lawmakers want to be able to set their own salaries for their employees as long as they stick to the commission’s minimum.
A constituency office manager, account assistant, and procurement clerk are among the staff members of an MP.
In addition, the legislator may hire a deputy constituency manager, a personal assistant, ward coordinator(s), a secretary, a researcher, an office assistant, a driver, and a security guard.
