The level of poverty among ordinary Kenyans will get worse after MPs awarded themselves Sh250,000 monthly housing allowance each, former Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti has said.
Kivuti, who is also a two-term former MP, said the senators and the MPs do not deserve the quarter million shilling monthly house allowance.
Already there is a wide disparity between the legislators and the struggling and overtaxed worker who will have to pay for the extra burden.
“The increment is illogical. I know there is no MP or senator who lives in a mud house. All of them live very comfortable lives. When an MP goes to Parliament he or she is given a car grant and a loan to buy a house. What then is this allowance for?” Kivuti asked.
He was addressing the faithful at Kavutiri Catholic church in Runyenjes Constituency, Embu county.
The MPs and senators, he said, are “eating” more than is necessary and this trend will create a lot of problems to the common man since all monies used for various activities in the country are from a common basket.
“If the basket is depleted, there will be nothing for the government’s universal health programme, infrastructure and other projects.”
Each of the 396 legislators (349 MPs and 47 senators) is reported to have pocketed Sh2.25 million as house allowance last month backdated to August last year. The payment translates to Sh99 million a month from the national Treasury.
Kivuti at the same time called for a reduction of the basic monthly National Insurance Hospital Fund’s premium from Sh500 to Sh200.
Kivuti and Embu Coffee Union chairman Muriuki Maruku called on the government to waive the Sh127 million loan borrowed from the Commodities Fund for the construction of the now-stalled Murue coffee mill.
The loan has increased from the Sh90 million borrowed five years ago due to interest.
The construction stalled yet farmers continue to pay for it.
