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{
    "id": 99397,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/99397/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 222,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. ole Metito",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Regional Development Authorities",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 199,
        "legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
        "slug": "judah-ole-metito"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, coming to my reservations I was going through the proposed hierarchy in the parliamentary set-up. I do not think, in my opinion, that it was correctly done. If we say we lump together--- That is because the way the proposal is that we have the Prime Minister, the Vice-President and the Deputy Prime Ministers. Then you come to the Ministers being at the same scale with the Leader of Official Opposition, PSC Members and the Government Chief Whip in Parliament. That is the way it is. I do not think that is a well co-ordinated structure. When you put that structure in place, not only in terms of responsibility but also with respect to remuneration. I think it is not well ranked. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you go down, you will get the Official Opposition Whip and the Deputy Government Whip. Then you come down to Assistant Ministers. Even before the Assistant Ministers, you still have the Members of the Speaker’s panel. Then you get the Assistant Ministers. Next to the Assistant Ministers, you get the other recognized whips, and then a Member of Parliament. I am glad that the Minister of State for Public Service is here to take this into account. It is good that we merge and integrate the Parliamentary Service Commission structure with the general structures in the Civil Service in this country. That is one of my suggestions. It is my considered opinion that in the proposed structure of remuneration, the discrepancies are a little bit skewed. They are skewed in favour of the Parliamentary Service Commission members. I think it is good that we really take that into account. Others who have the structure slightly skewed in their favour are the members of the Speaker’s Panel. First and foremost, we are all Members of Parliament in this House. Before any other privileged or additional responsibility is placed on us, we are all Members of Parliament. When you look at the current remuneration structure--- If you look at the basic pay for everybody who is a Member of Parliament, we are all Members of Parliament, paid basic pay. The allowances now differ based on the additional responsibility bestowed on us. You are paid as a Member of Parliament. You are not paid as a Minister or the Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Service Commission. You are not paid as an Assistant Minister; you are paid as a Member of Parliament. The responsibility you have bestowed upon you as a Parliamentary Service Commissioner or an Assistant Minister now attracts an allowance. If you look at this proposed structure, you will find one hon. Member in this House proposed to be paid Kshs400,000 as basic payment. You will find that the basic pay for another hon. Member is Kshs300,000. It is my considered opinion that Members of Parliament should all get equal basic pay as Members of this House; the other responsibilities can then attract varying allowances. I also want to have my reservation that the variations are too skewed in favour of the Parliamentary Service Commission Members. I want to bring to the attention of this House that first and foremost, the Parliamentary Service Commissioners are Members of Parliament, and Members of all other departmental committees in this House. If the proposed structure puts Members of the Parliamentary Service Commission at par with Ministers, then they should also cease to be Members of departmental committees; there is no Minister or Assistant Minister who is a Member of any parliamentary committee. So, in this proposed structure, if the Parliamentary Service Commission Members and the Chief Whip will get remuneration equal to that of Ministers, then they should not be Members of parliamentary committees. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my final reservation is about the sitting allowance. It is proposed in this structure that the sitting allowance be raised from the current Kshs5,000 to Kshs10,000. My concern is that the PSC has proposed that each hon. Member be entitled to be paid for a maximum of three sittings in a day. You have not increased the sitting days. Take for instance on Tuesdays and Thursdays when this House only sits in the afternoon, and you are saying an hon. Member can be paid for a maximum of three sittings in a day. That is Kshs30,000 in a day in form of sitting allowance. You will get an hon. Member attending two committee meetings in the morning and coming to the House in the afternoon. Those are three sittings. He will be paid for three sittings in a day. It is my considered opinion that we reduce that to two sittings in a day, so that you can only attend one committee meeting in a day and a sitting in the afternoon. Those are the things we should have. Finally, is the issue of pension. Maybe, this proposed Report was made in anticipation that the proposed constitution will be passed by Kenyans on 4th August. So, we will have a complete separation from the legislature and the Executive. Let me come back to what I was talking about, the pension. In the proposed Report, we have not been very fair in pension. Pension still remains the way it has been; you must serve two terms and attain the age of 45 years and above for you to be pensionable. Kenya has been yearning for young leadership in this country. We have seen Members coming to this House at the age of even 28 years. If such an hon. Member serves two terms, he will be 38 years of age. If you do not serve third term, you will have to wait for seven years to get your pension. I think that is not fair. It is something that should be looked into in such a way that even if you serve one term in this House, you should get your pension and not wait until you reach a certain age. With those few remarks, I am happy that the Minister for Public Service is here and he is listening. I beg to support."
}