MP's tax shame: It is not mere
refusal to pay up. It is official fraud
THE centre for Law and Research International (CLARION) and the Kenyans for Justice and Development (KEJUDEV) has demanded that Members of Parliament must pay taxes just like any ordinary Kenyan.
This was said during the conference organized by the dual organizations at Panafric Hotel attended also by Kisumu Town East MP, Mr Shakeel Shabbir.
On his keynote address on the theme: Peoples Conference on Taxation of Members of Parliament, Mr Martin Oloo, Advocate of the High Court and Governance Consultant, while quoting Thomas Hobbes, the 17th Century famous English philosopher said Kenyan Mps were egocentric oriented, that is why they are greedy and do not care about their electorates.
It is against this background that the Kenyan basic constitutional principle was quietly ousted in 1999 with the coming into force of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Act that created the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC). This gave MPs power to design the 1999 Amendment Act to disable many important constitutional provisions that created an institutional framework of democratic controls, checks and balances anchored on the principle of separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. That law states categorically that it is superior to the Constitution, and where there is inconsistency between the two, it prevails.
In its effect, that 1999 amendment overthrows the Constitution and elevates the PSC to the Fourth arm of government, or worse still, to a parallel government. Thus the PSC operates outside all counterbalancing constitutional controls.
It explains why under the guise of catering for the welfare of parliamentarians, the PSC has used its vast powers to pay parliamentarians unreasonable salaries and allowances, which it charges directly to the Consolidated Fund, unchallenged.
Unless this Act is amended MPs will still have powers of the Executive to determine their salaries and allowances. That is why for proper checks and balances, the Executive must set the salaries and allowances of MPs as it used to do.
In light of the above, a group of Kenyans led by Okiya Omtatah Okoiti (pictured below with chains), member of KEJUDEV have optioned the High Court in Nairobi, seeking orders to have the PSC declared unconstitutional along with the law that created it. Further they want the High Court to recover the following money and resources the PSC has squandered on parliaments since 2003.
Members of parliament are paid a sitting allowance of Kshs. 5, 000 purportedly as an incentive to attend parliamentary sessions. The National Assembly sits four times in a week (once on Tuesdays and Thursdays and twice on Wednesdays). Each MP therefore earns Kshs. 20, 000 per week, translating to Kshs. 80, 000 per month, for doing what s/ he already paid a salary to do. Further, MPs earn hefty allowances every time they participate in sessions of Standing or ad-hoc Committees; every time they travel on a national business; and whenever they work over-time, or when Parliament is not in session.
Since the mandates of MPs require them to transact their business in the Houses, this payment the group say is both immoral and illegal. That is why these petitioners are seeking High Court orders to stop this anomaly and, further, to recover all moneys paid out as sitting allowances to all MPs since 2003.
Apart from sitting allowances, the PSC also approved and paid Kshs. 1.5 million “Winding- Up” allowances to each MP in the 9th Parliament, calculated at the rate of Kshs. 300, 000 per year for the 5 -year term served. This group says is illegal since the contract term of the Mps was expiring not being terminated.
Further more; about 35 percent of the MPs were elected back into 10th Parliament from the 9th Parliament. Does it mean re-elected MPs will keep being paid to “wind-up” every time their terms end? Are MPs being bribed here, too, so that they go home?
Again that is why the petitioners are seeking the High Court to stop these allowances to all members of the 9th Parliament. As if that is not enough, at the beginning of each five-year Parliamentary term, the PSC gives a Kshs. 3.3 million motor vehicle purchase grant to each MP, as well as the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Vice President, Ministers and Assistant Ministers.
The PSC also gives each MP a car maintenance allowance of Kshs. 900, 000 per year despite the fact that these cars are being used for the benefit of the MPs. There is evidence that not all MPs use the money to purchase vehicles. Some Mps divert it to other purposes, but still claim the money. This group says this is fraud, a crime in Kenyan law.
That is why the petitioners are asking the High Court to order that the motor vehicles be identified as public/ Government property by being fitted with Gk number plates as is required by law. It should also order the MPs surrender the vehicles at the end of each parliamentary each since they are public property.
The group also wants about 5million signatures from Kenyans to force MPs to pay taxes on the hefty allowances they receive every month.
This is not the first time Omtatah has refuted the hefty salaries of the MPs. The first one was in August 2007 when he joined a group of civil rights activists calling themselves the “Yellow Movement” who were arrested and later released by the high court after marching to Parliament to protest against a move by MPs of the 9th parliament to increase their own allowances and pay themselves a hefty gratuity.
During the incident, the arrested activists were injured in a road accident involving the police car that was ferrying them to various police stations and a matatu. According to Omtatah that was a sign of God that what the activists were demanding was justified.
The MPs hefty payment includes a basic salary of Sh 300,000 and a minimum commuted mileage (Sh 75,000), entertainment allowance (Sh 60,000), extraneous allowance (Sh 30,000), house allowance (Sh 70,000) and monthly car maintenance allowance (Sh 247,000).
At the time the activists were demonstrating against the hefty pay the PSC had also approved the MPs to get as part of January remuneration, mileage calculated at sh 115 per kilometre and gym membership allowance of sh 2,000, including fixed vehicles cost allowance (Sh 336,000), monthly committee meeting attendance allowance (Sh 40,000) and constituency allowance (sh 50,000).These include Sh 3.3 million car loan and sh 10 million loan to buy a house, both of which are interest-free.
Like in most other countries, where an independent committee sets salaries for MPs, the lobby group wants such independent body to be formed to replace PSC.
refusal to pay up. It is official fraud
THE centre for Law and Research International (CLARION) and the Kenyans for Justice and Development (KEJUDEV) has demanded that Members of Parliament must pay taxes just like any ordinary Kenyan.
This was said during the conference organized by the dual organizations at Panafric Hotel attended also by Kisumu Town East MP, Mr Shakeel Shabbir.
On his keynote address on the theme: Peoples Conference on Taxation of Members of Parliament, Mr Martin Oloo, Advocate of the High Court and Governance Consultant, while quoting Thomas Hobbes, the 17th Century famous English philosopher said Kenyan Mps were egocentric oriented, that is why they are greedy and do not care about their electorates.
It is against this background that the Kenyan basic constitutional principle was quietly ousted in 1999 with the coming into force of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Act that created the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC). This gave MPs power to design the 1999 Amendment Act to disable many important constitutional provisions that created an institutional framework of democratic controls, checks and balances anchored on the principle of separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. That law states categorically that it is superior to the Constitution, and where there is inconsistency between the two, it prevails.
In its effect, that 1999 amendment overthrows the Constitution and elevates the PSC to the Fourth arm of government, or worse still, to a parallel government. Thus the PSC operates outside all counterbalancing constitutional controls.
It explains why under the guise of catering for the welfare of parliamentarians, the PSC has used its vast powers to pay parliamentarians unreasonable salaries and allowances, which it charges directly to the Consolidated Fund, unchallenged.
Unless this Act is amended MPs will still have powers of the Executive to determine their salaries and allowances. That is why for proper checks and balances, the Executive must set the salaries and allowances of MPs as it used to do.
In light of the above, a group of Kenyans led by Okiya Omtatah Okoiti (pictured below with chains), member of KEJUDEV have optioned the High Court in Nairobi, seeking orders to have the PSC declared unconstitutional along with the law that created it. Further they want the High Court to recover the following money and resources the PSC has squandered on parliaments since 2003.
Members of parliament are paid a sitting allowance of Kshs. 5, 000 purportedly as an incentive to attend parliamentary sessions. The National Assembly sits four times in a week (once on Tuesdays and Thursdays and twice on Wednesdays). Each MP therefore earns Kshs. 20, 000 per week, translating to Kshs. 80, 000 per month, for doing what s/ he already paid a salary to do. Further, MPs earn hefty allowances every time they participate in sessions of Standing or ad-hoc Committees; every time they travel on a national business; and whenever they work over-time, or when Parliament is not in session.
Since the mandates of MPs require them to transact their business in the Houses, this payment the group say is both immoral and illegal. That is why these petitioners are seeking High Court orders to stop this anomaly and, further, to recover all moneys paid out as sitting allowances to all MPs since 2003.
Apart from sitting allowances, the PSC also approved and paid Kshs. 1.5 million “Winding- Up” allowances to each MP in the 9th Parliament, calculated at the rate of Kshs. 300, 000 per year for the 5 -year term served. This group says is illegal since the contract term of the Mps was expiring not being terminated.
Further more; about 35 percent of the MPs were elected back into 10th Parliament from the 9th Parliament. Does it mean re-elected MPs will keep being paid to “wind-up” every time their terms end? Are MPs being bribed here, too, so that they go home?
Again that is why the petitioners are seeking the High Court to stop these allowances to all members of the 9th Parliament. As if that is not enough, at the beginning of each five-year Parliamentary term, the PSC gives a Kshs. 3.3 million motor vehicle purchase grant to each MP, as well as the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Vice President, Ministers and Assistant Ministers.
The PSC also gives each MP a car maintenance allowance of Kshs. 900, 000 per year despite the fact that these cars are being used for the benefit of the MPs. There is evidence that not all MPs use the money to purchase vehicles. Some Mps divert it to other purposes, but still claim the money. This group says this is fraud, a crime in Kenyan law.
That is why the petitioners are asking the High Court to order that the motor vehicles be identified as public/ Government property by being fitted with Gk number plates as is required by law. It should also order the MPs surrender the vehicles at the end of each parliamentary each since they are public property.
The group also wants about 5million signatures from Kenyans to force MPs to pay taxes on the hefty allowances they receive every month.
This is not the first time Omtatah has refuted the hefty salaries of the MPs. The first one was in August 2007 when he joined a group of civil rights activists calling themselves the “Yellow Movement” who were arrested and later released by the high court after marching to Parliament to protest against a move by MPs of the 9th parliament to increase their own allowances and pay themselves a hefty gratuity.
During the incident, the arrested activists were injured in a road accident involving the police car that was ferrying them to various police stations and a matatu. According to Omtatah that was a sign of God that what the activists were demanding was justified.
The MPs hefty payment includes a basic salary of Sh 300,000 and a minimum commuted mileage (Sh 75,000), entertainment allowance (Sh 60,000), extraneous allowance (Sh 30,000), house allowance (Sh 70,000) and monthly car maintenance allowance (Sh 247,000).
At the time the activists were demonstrating against the hefty pay the PSC had also approved the MPs to get as part of January remuneration, mileage calculated at sh 115 per kilometre and gym membership allowance of sh 2,000, including fixed vehicles cost allowance (Sh 336,000), monthly committee meeting attendance allowance (Sh 40,000) and constituency allowance (sh 50,000).These include Sh 3.3 million car loan and sh 10 million loan to buy a house, both of which are interest-free.
Like in most other countries, where an independent committee sets salaries for MPs, the lobby group wants such independent body to be formed to replace PSC.
