Thursday, February 23, 2006
NEW LOOTING ! ! !
The parliamentary Service Commission has been busy reviewing the perks of the MPs. Barely a year has passed since the MPs awarded themselves hefty pay hikes and allowances. The emoluments they have given themselves are to put it mildly obscene.. The increase is not commensurate with the inflation rate neither is it related to economic growth rate. We cannot even justify it on the basis of increased work load. It is therefore incumbent upon the Commission to explain to the nation, that is the employer and paymaster, the criteria used to arrive at those figures.
Just because the corruption loopholes are being sealed does not mean that they should now loot directly. Is this another political fundraising project or is it in preparation for the jail time they will not be earning anything?
The country is tired of feeding unproductive leaders. Some of them have not even made their maiden speeches? The overseas allowance is a gross abuse of reality is irresponsible expenditure of public finance. A per diem of $760 in USA? Ridiculous! Are they Donald Trump? You can get reasonable full board accommodation in Washington DC for half that amount, three meals a day and a swimming pool! Are these foreign trips fund raising ventures? What happened to the old system of imprest. I will bet my next paycheck that if you asked them to produce receipts to cover the allowance, they will be hard pressed even if they inflate the figures.
On what basis were these figures arrived at? Did the embassies in the respective countries confirm them? Let us stop the looting of public funds through giving it an aura of official approval.
Our ministers and their assistants are among the most highly paid in the world. With the bloated cabinet we have, it amounts to pampering them for political purposes. This is corruption of the first order. The perks will be jingled every time one of them expresses dissenting voices. Let us hear them say this is undeserved pay hike. Let them shoot it down and act at least reasonably if not responsibly.
When was the last time parliament debated salary increase for the common mwananchi. The annual ritual of raising the minimum wage by 5% or 7% every labor day is seen as satisfactory. The only thing is this minimum wage was overtaken by events a decade ago. You cannot live on the minimum wage, thanks to the employers they no longer consider those guidelines otherwise there would be nobody to work for you.
As the president talks of performance contracts for the ministers and civil servants, we need performance contracts for the MPs. Going to sleep in bunge for the better part of the 90 days that the house sits in a year and taking home over quarter million shillings as bonus at the end of the year, over and above all the other tax free allowances, is obscene. Bonuses are awarded on the basis of performance, profitability and value produced. Not on the basis of just being on the payroll. We need an explanation and satisfactory justification for this latest looting of our kitty. Over to you Hon. Kaparo.
Just because the corruption loopholes are being sealed does not mean that they should now loot directly. Is this another political fundraising project or is it in preparation for the jail time they will not be earning anything?
The country is tired of feeding unproductive leaders. Some of them have not even made their maiden speeches? The overseas allowance is a gross abuse of reality is irresponsible expenditure of public finance. A per diem of $760 in USA? Ridiculous! Are they Donald Trump? You can get reasonable full board accommodation in Washington DC for half that amount, three meals a day and a swimming pool! Are these foreign trips fund raising ventures? What happened to the old system of imprest. I will bet my next paycheck that if you asked them to produce receipts to cover the allowance, they will be hard pressed even if they inflate the figures.
On what basis were these figures arrived at? Did the embassies in the respective countries confirm them? Let us stop the looting of public funds through giving it an aura of official approval.
Our ministers and their assistants are among the most highly paid in the world. With the bloated cabinet we have, it amounts to pampering them for political purposes. This is corruption of the first order. The perks will be jingled every time one of them expresses dissenting voices. Let us hear them say this is undeserved pay hike. Let them shoot it down and act at least reasonably if not responsibly.
When was the last time parliament debated salary increase for the common mwananchi. The annual ritual of raising the minimum wage by 5% or 7% every labor day is seen as satisfactory. The only thing is this minimum wage was overtaken by events a decade ago. You cannot live on the minimum wage, thanks to the employers they no longer consider those guidelines otherwise there would be nobody to work for you.
As the president talks of performance contracts for the ministers and civil servants, we need performance contracts for the MPs. Going to sleep in bunge for the better part of the 90 days that the house sits in a year and taking home over quarter million shillings as bonus at the end of the year, over and above all the other tax free allowances, is obscene. Bonuses are awarded on the basis of performance, profitability and value produced. Not on the basis of just being on the payroll. We need an explanation and satisfactory justification for this latest looting of our kitty. Over to you Hon. Kaparo.
