August 4 looms large and the Proposed Constitution emphatically states that nobody shall be exempted from paying tax. The new laws go a step further to establish a Salary and Remuneration Commission mandated to fix perks for State Officers, including MPs.
As a result, waheshimiwa want to rush through hefty perks before the new laws come into force to tie the hands of the envisaged Commission since it would be unconstitutional to lower their income.
Luck is on the MPs's side as a Tribunal headed by retired Justice Akilano Akiwumi recommends that MPs be paid a gross salary of Sh1,091,000.
Despite the public outcry over frequent upward adjustment of MPs' allowances, it is, firstly, not so much the amount as justification of the increases.
Secondly, it is argued that legislators spend a fortune to get elected and once in, try to amass a fortune by inflating tenders, blackmailing firms and individuals through cash-for-questions on the floor of the House.
Soon, amnesia sets in when campaign phrases like zero tolerance to corruption are mentioned. Will paying them more keep their fingers out of the public till? Is this not akin to arguing that giving policemen and border officials a Sh1 million raise would stop them from accepting kickbacks.
Automatic re-election
Two days ago, a damning report by the World Bank fingered MPs for censure over graft. However, avoiding being labelled corrupt is a matter of personal conscience and selflessly delivering services without expecting millions in return, should ideally be an automatic ticket for re-election. Integrity of MPs should be measured by the same ruler they set for the rest of the country.
Source: The Standard | Online Edition
1 comments:
I have heard that people are rebelling against taxes, especially their increase. I think that this problem from two sides there are to see. One thing is when the government doesn't care about people. Another when Yes. Here on this site wrote about a rebellion in one country tuko.co.ke/ don't think that's a rarity
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