Cost of MPs, judges perk to rise by Sh4.6bn
Parliament is session on November 9. A proposed law could see the cost of travel and subsistence allowance for MPs and judges rise by over Sh4.6 billion per year.
It will cost the country at least Sh4.6 billion a year in additional expenditure on travel subsistence allowances for MPs and other officials if the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill 2023 becomes law.
The government-sponsored Bill signed by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah seeks to clip the powers of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) from determining the Daily Subsistence Allowances (DSAs) and travel allowance payable to MPs, judges and some State officers.
The projected cost implication of the Bill if enacted in its current form, is in addition to what the MPs and judges are presently getting, and the expected ripple effect from MCAs and other State officers whose interests have not been catered for in the Bill.
The Bill specifically seeks to amend the Parliamentary Service Act of 2019 and the Judicial Service Act of 2011. It proposes to empower the Parliamentary Service Commission and the Judicial Service Commission to determine the DSAs and travel reimbursements for MPs, judges and staff of the two commissions.
Data obtained by the Nation indicates that the projected cost of the Bill, if enacted, is Sh1.91 billion in reimbursable mileage claims per year to the 416 MPs in the Senate and the National Assembly at the rate of Sh210 per kilometre.
“DSAs expenditure is a function of budget allocation, rate, duration, frequency and size of the delegation,” the document in our possession reads, warning that there will be a ripple effect to the other state officers. The data shows that in five years, it will cost the country Sh34.93 billion in claimable mileage reimbursements, which is Sh9.55 billion more compared to the current rates.
Currently, MPs consume Sh25.39 billion in mileage claims within their five-year electoral cycle at the rate of Sh152.6 per kilometre.
The distance from Parliament to constituency offices is zoned in two bands- the 0-350 kilometre and the 351 kilometre and above. The first band has up to a maximum return journey per week of 700 kilometres and has 163 MPs within it, meaning that if the Sh210 claimable mileage reimbursement was to apply, it will cost Sh6.23 billion in five year.
The second band has a maximum return journey per week of up to 2,078 kilometres and has 253 MPs. At the Sh210, it will cost the taxpayer Sh28.71 billion within five years.
The 1,450 MCAs currently get Sh6.7 billion in five years in mileage reimbursement claims. This is projected to go up by Sh1.33 billion in the five years.
It will also cost the taxpayer Sh1.34 billion in DSA for State officers, which includes Sh748.9 million in local travel and Sh587.7 million foreign travels.
Further, it is projected that the annual local DSAs paid to judges and senior Judiciary staff will consume an additional Sh374.6 million on top of the current Sh1.19 billion. The foreign DSAs will also shoot up to Sh675.12 million above the current Sh529.54 million annually.
The figures are arrived at with the assumption that the local DSAs for judges is Sh30,000, making them earn Sh206.4 million a year and Sh261.4 million a year in foreign DSAs. It is projected that senior staff at the Judiciary will pocket at least Sh1.4 billion in local DSAs at the rate of Sh20,000, and Sh413.7 million in foreign DSAs.
Currently, judges are paid a local DSA at the rate of Sh25,000 whenever on duty outside the workstations, which translates to Sh172 million a year.
The 416 MPs including senior staff members are expected to cost the taxpayer Sh536 million in local DSAs above the current figure of Sh422 million in a year. They will also gobble Sh778.24 million in foreign DSAs in a year, which is above the current figure of Sh577.82 million.
Senior parliamentary staff are projected to earn Sh120 million in local DSAs a year at the rate of Sh15,000 and Sh145.92 million a year in foreign DSAs.
