Bill wants part-time Commission chiefs

Top officials of the 10 constitutional commissions will hold office on part-time as opposed to full-time basis if MPs pass a proposed law.

National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani argues that the move is aimed at doing away with the hefty salaries paid to the commissioners.

Legislators argue most of the commissioners earn huge salaries of upto Sh800,000 per month, besides other perks such as State security, drivers over and above allowances.

Proposed changes are contained in a bill sponsored by Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa, who is also seeking to limit the number of sittings for commissioners serving in both the Commission for Revenue Authority (CRA) and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to only 15 annually.

The 10 commissions include the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) chaired by Roseline Odede, the National Land Commission (NLC) chaired by Gershom Otachi, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) chaired by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) chaired by Chief Justice Martha Koome.

Others include the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) chaired by Mary Wanyonyi, the Public Service Commission (PSC) chaired by Simon Rotich, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) chaired by Lyn Mengich, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) chaired Dr Jamleck Muturi and National Police Service Commission (NPSC) chaired by Eliud Kinuthia.

Said Kuria: “This (proposal is coming at a very timely period, take for example IEBC, since we kicked out the Cherera Four and the other team retired, there is nothing going on. This commission is only known after every five years.

Led by Kuria, Barasa, Julius Rutto (Kesses), Mboni Mwalika (Kitui Rural), Ariko John (Turkana South), Joseph Makilap (Baringo North) and Umul Ker Kassim (Mandera Woman Rep), the MPs claimed that the commissioner have been enjoying heft perks and remunerations yet the work they do can be done in a single sitting.

Barasa claimed that he had been approached by a number of commissioners who had requested him to drop his bid.

“The people who live luxurious lives are commissioners, they have huge salaries, they have been allocated drivers, they have big cars and their tea is even more nutritious than ours as MPs,” he said.
Part-time basis

Mboni said there is need for commissioners to work on part time basis as most of them just idle in their offices as they do not have any roles to do as most of their work is done by the secretariat.

He said the commissioners benefit from mortgages, car loans and have allowances similar to what MPs earn yet they do not have much work to-do.

“These commissioners are very idle, they come to the office to just sit as they do not have any job to and their presence in the office is to actually intimidate staff as they are not able to work. I think it is time that we make all commissioners part time because all they do is go to the office and then check what the secretariat has done,” he said.

Umul said there is a need for the commissions to be harmonised to ensure that they all sit on part time basis.

“We need to harmonize all the commissions and make them sit on part time basis like state corporations board members,” she said.

Ariko said that as they seek to make the commissioners sit on part time basis, they will also be required to look at the retainer they will be getting during the sittings that they will hold in a year.
Rutto and Makilap cautioned against converting the said commission as they have a lot of business to transact.

Their statement comes at a time when the Speaker of the National Assembly currently earns Sh1.16 million while Chief Justice is entitled to Sh1.3 million.

The IEBC chairperson is currently entitled to a monthly salary of Sh924 000, the vice chairperson Sh765,188, while members of the electoral commission and chairpersons of KNHRC, NLC, PSC, SRC, TSC and NPSC are also entitled to Sh765,188 each per month.

The other benefits they are entitled to include an official car of engine capacity not exceeding 3000cc, an annual medical cover that covers one spouse and up to four children below twenty-five years fully dependent on the State officer whose outpatient cover is Sh10 million (in-patient), outpatient (Sh300,000), Maternity Sh150,000, Dental Sh 75,000 and Optical Sh75,000.