Political leaders should put the national interest above their personal interest. But in Parliament MPs are blocking legislation to give the Salaries and Remuneration Commission powers to set wages and allowances for public officers.
This is purely selfish. The MPs don't want the SRC to limit their own remuneration which already makes them among the best paid legislators in the world.
The SRC has been battling with MPs to get their salaries and allowances under control. So, rather than have that happen, the MPs prefer to sabotage the SRC so that it becomes a toothless dog without authority anywhere.
The legislation blocked by MPs would have given statutory authority to the SRC to set salaries for public officers. The MPs want to the SRC to be purely an advisory body that can easily be ignored.
The SRC has done a good job since it was set up in 2011. It has steadily harmonised salaries among the different parts of the civil service.
If President William Ruto is serious about controlling government spending, he should use his majority in the National Assembly to pass this law making the SRC a statutory body rather than an advisory body.
Quote of the day: "Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
Marcus Aurelius
The Roman emperor died on March 17, 180
