Senator Aaron Cheruiyot urges MPs to take pay cuts, reject SRC’s proposed salary increments
Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot has urged the Members of Parliament (MPs) to take pay cuts.
Speaking on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, the Senate Majority Leader suggested that the lawmakers should reject the salary increments proposed by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
Cheruiyot stated that the SRC should ensure that the country's public expenditure on salaries and wages is reduced from the current 46 per cent to the mandatory 35 per cent.
"If it means taking a pay cut, we as members of parliament have been told that we will never do it. We don’t have an option, we must do it," Cheruiyot said.
The lawmaker faulted SRC for remaining silent on the high wages debate that has been going on.
Cheruiyot on MPs pay rise
He faulted the Lyn Mengich-led commission for proposing a pay rise for MPs and other state officers during the tough economic times.
Cheruiyot further urged the lawmakers from both the National Assembly and the Senate to stand firm and reject the proposed salary increments.
"The yearly increment that is being discussed, I saw it being reported or misreported that we are now going to earn more...SRC continues to be silent about it. We must make a resolution and say that we reject even that one in light of the financial situation," he stated.
SRC faulted
Cheruiyot joins Eldas MP Adan Keynan in calling for the MPs to decline the pay hikes.
Keynan in a statement made via his official X account on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, condemned SRC's move to propose a pay rise for the lawmakers and state officers.
The lawmaker pointed out that SRC's move speaks of a state agency that has lost touch with the prevailing economic state of the country. 
He further termed the move to increase MPs' salaries as grossly insensitive, urging the lawmakers and state officers to condemn SRC and decline the pay rises.
"The move by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to increase salaries for Members of Parliament and other state officers speaks of a state agency that has lost touch with the prevailing economic state of the country," Keynan stated.
"This unwarranted action by the Mrs Lyn Mengich-led commission is grossly insensitive, tone-deaf and should be loudly condemned and unequivocally declined."
MPs new salaries
The Gazette Notice by the SRC states that monthly remuneration structures for state officers in the Senate and the National Assembly are to be implemented in the Financial Year 2024/2025, with effect from July 1, 2024.
In the new structure, the two Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate, Moses Wetangula and Amason Kingi respectively, will starting this month receive a gross salary of Ksh1,208,362 up from Ksh1,185,327, while their deputies will earn Ksh966,690, up from Ksh948,261.
The Leaders of the Majority and minority parties, Kimani Ichung’wa and Opiyo Wandayi respectively, will earn Ksh800,019 up from Ksh784,768 which they have been earning.
The other MPs and senators will earn Ksh739,600, up from Ksh725,502.
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