Accountable to no-one

According to a report in the Daily Nation newspaper, Kenyan MPs earn a minimum monthly pay package of 851,000 shillings (the majority of which is tax-free), equivalent to an annual income of around $195,000. This compares with the salary and allowance package of around $150,000 for Australian MPs. Kenya has around 50% more people than Australia, but the Kenyan government’s total budget is around 3% of that of Australia.

The majority of Kenyan people live in dire poverty, and the remuneration of politicians is widely considered scandalously excessive. It therefore seems surprising that hardly anyone has turned up to make submissions to the tribunal which has been set up to review salaries of Kenyan MPs. Perhaps people believe that the outcome of the tribunal is a foregone conclusion — further massive pay increases for politicians — so it is not worth wasting one’s breath on making submissions.

Perhaps, even worse, it is widely believed that anyone who has the temerity to speak out against pay rises for politicians will suffer some form of retaliation. Last Thursday’s tribunal hearing was attended by 41 journalists and 16 tribunal staff, but only one man had the courage to turn up to make submissions. Mr Kennedy Wachira Kanyi argued that any pay rise for MPs would be unfair, and he accused MPs of conspiring to fleece the taxpayer.