MPs Should Stop their Exploitation of Kenyans

We petition the Government of the Republic of Kenya to rescind the recent increases in allowances awarded to Members of Parliament and Ministers and to urgently review their remuneration so that it is in line with our national priorities and realities. We also petition that the manner in which the remuneration of MPs is determined be urgently reviewed.

The award of hefty pay and allowances to our legislators and the manner of their award skews our national priorities and ignores our national realities.

Our legislators are already some of the most highly paid in the entire world. Their US $120,000 pay packet is miles ahead of our per capital national income (US $500) and obviously incomparable to the pittances of 60\% of our population who have to make do with less than US $1.00 a day. Furthermore, while Kenyans earning a pittance pay tax on their incomes, our legislators do not.

The awards come at a time when the country is grappling with its worst famine in years, which has caused the Government to beg for international relief. Our infrastructure is dilapidated. It also comes at a time when the Government is in the process of retrenching thousands of workers from the civil service, including Telecom and Kenya Railways. It comes at a time when questions are being raised about the performance of our legislators.

The manner of the awards flies in the face of common rules of justice, that one should not be judge in their own case. The refusal by the legislators to support the supplemental budget till they had received the awards demonstrates their warped view of what our priorities as a nation are.

The time has come to STOP this shameless plunder of our limited national resources and this relentless pursuit of self aggrandizement at the expense of the nation, which our legislators purport to serve. Please say NO to this outrage by signing this petition.