Senators Support Enhanced Salary for MCAs, Taxpayers to Cough up Sh10.4Bn Extra Annually

Senators have joined forces to advocate for higher salaries for the MCAs, which could mean an additional expenditure of at least 10.64 billion shillings per year. 

This comes at a time when the nation is facing a high cost of living, an undershooting of revenue collection goals, and a ballooning public debt. The legislators are not only campaigning for a gross monthly salary of 397,320 shillings for the MCAs, but they also want to bring back their mileage and seating allowances and grant them a two million shilling car allowance - an expense that will require citizens to open their wallets even wider. Kenya has a total of 2,232 Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) in its 47 county assemblies, of which 1,450 are elected and 782 are nominated. 

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), led by Lyn Mengich, recently reduced MCAs' gross salary from Sh165,000 to Sh144,373 per month. In addition, the Commission has also removed the sitting and mileage allowances, as well as the Sh2 million grant it had approved earlier in 2021.

Last month, members of the county assembly (MCAs) called for a gain in their wages; they are pushing for an increase of 27 percent from their current 16 percent of the governor's salary. This would bring their monthly pay to Sh397,320, which is a total of Sh886.8 million each month and Sh10.64 billion each year. Kinanie MCA Francis Wambua was one of the main supporters of this cause, saying that MCAs should be treated equally to other elected officials. Senators backed their counterpart's claims, criticizing the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for attempting to decrease MCAs' perks.