[SIZE=7]MPs Award Themselves Ksh5.8 Million Each After Bypassing SRC[/SIZE]
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[li]By DERRICK OKUBASU on 9 June 2022 - 2:08 pm[/li]
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Parliament Buildings in Nairobi
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Kenyan lawmakers, both Members of Parliament and Senators, will be smiling all the way to the bank when their five-year term lapses on August 9, after they got their generous send-off packages approved.
According to a report from the Parliamentary Pensions Scheme, each lawmaker is expected to pocket a minimum of Ksh5.8 million send-off package - effectively bypassing the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) concerns over the plans.
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President Uhuru Kenyatta
Those who will have served for only one term will receive the Ksh5.8 million each while the lawmakers who have served for more than two-term, 12 in number, will be entitled to Ksh7.8 million each as a send-off package.
“Members who have served for one term will be entitled to Ksh5.8 million from the scheme while those who have done more than one (term) will get their pension,” read the report in part.
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Lawmakers seated in Parliament.
The proposal was first tabled in Parliament on August 5, 2020, in which the lawmakers were seeking a Ksh11.6 million send-off package each.
“Subject to provisions of this Act, a person shall be entitled to gratuity under this section where the person ceases to be a Member of Parliament and has served an aggregate period of five years or less,” read the proposal at the time.
Soon after, the SRC, however, put up a fight against the proposal arguing that it would burden the taxpayers who are already faced with a high cost of living arguing that it would trigger other public officers to make their own demands.
“If the Bill is enacted into law, as proposed, it shall not only pile an additional burden on taxpayers but shall set a precedence and ripple effect for other categories of public officers to demand equal treatment and fairness…This shall, therefore, make the public pension liability unaffordable and fiscally unsustainable,” read the response by SRC.
The Commission had argued that Pension was already in place to offer retired lawmakers a monthly stipend which is pegged at Ksh180,000 and serviced those who had served for more than two terms.
The lawmakers are set to adjourn sine die on Thursday afternoon to allow for those contesting to carry out campaigns in the remaining 60 days.
When compounded, the send-off package will hit Ksh2.2 billion which burdens taxpayers already grappling with a high inflation rate that rose from 5.6 percent in March to 6.5 percent as per the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
[B][I]Murimy Wa Wanjiku[/I][/B]
This is where either in Azimio or Kenya Kwanza these guys speak the same language
And the stupid hungry kenyans are fighting on behalf of them.
Peter Kilolo
And the fools we are, we will vote them back on August 9th
Bunnlink Community Development Network
The silly pigs have done it again. Dogs
David Nielsen Munjal
You will not hear any side condemning this
Evans Nyangano
This is where Kenya Kwanza and Azimio speak one language
Meanwhile…
A search result on Google search engine on the fifth President of Kenya, however, reveals that Raila Odinga is the answer despite the elections being 60 days away.
A spot check on the results by [I]Kenyans.co.ke[/I] reveals that the Azimio coalition presidential candidate appears as the subject in five links displayed by Google.
The top result shows the profile of the ODM party leader on Wikipedia and details his extensive career in politics. The information contained on the page can, however, be edited by the creator of the page.
The subsequent links consist of quotes and remarks from incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta during the signing of the Azimio coalition agreement on March 12, 2022, where he declared Raila as his preferred successor in August.
Only one link in the Google search results opined that Deputy President William Ruto would succeed his boss, Uhuru Kenyatta.
How Google Search Results Work
When a user enters a query, the Google servers search the index for matching pages before returning the results that are perceived to be most relevant to the user.
The relevancy of a page is determined by various factors such as keywords, user’s location, device, and language, among others. Hence despite multiple topics and pages on a particular topic, not all links that are processed by Google are indexed.
This is due to factors such as the relevance of the page, content quality and the site’s metadata disallow indexing hence preventing Google from displaying the link in the results.
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President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga during the ODM NDC at Kasarani, in Nairobi on February 26, 2022.
Effects of Social Media
With the world embracing technology, social media has become a key component in candidates’ strategies as it opens up a space to engage with voters in more direct ways. This has seen candidates pour resources to employ social media strategists and handlers in order to effectively manage their platforms.
During the 2017 General Election, past data indicated that over 80 percent of political candidates had an online presence. According to the Digital 2020: Kenya report by Simon Kemp, there are 8 million social media users, and over 80 percent of Kenyans visit Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp.
In 2017, President Uhuru Kenyatta was ranked by Guardian Africa among the continent’s top tweeting politicians, however, the Head of State deactivated his account following sentiments posted online.
As the country heads to the August 9 General Election, Kenyans await with bated breath to exercise their rights and vote for the fifth President in what will undoubtedly be a momentous phase in the country’s history.