Mandera County Members of County Assembly (MCAs) have expressed dissatisfaction with the decision made by the Salary and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to raise their gross salary by Ksh.10,000, considering it to be unjust.
The SRC conveyed the salary increment through a circular on Wednesday, stating that the increase would be implemented in two phases. Starting from July, MCAs will earn Ksh.154,481, an increase from the previous amount of Ksh.144,375.
Meanwhile, County Assembly speakers will also experience a salary hike. In the current financial year, their salaries will rise to Ksh.562,312 from Ksh.525,525. However, in the 2024/25 financial year, the amount will further increase to Ksh.601,674
Starting from July, Deputy Speakers will receive a monthly salary of Ksh.231,722, an increase from the previous amount of Ksh.216,563. It is anticipated that this figure will further rise to Ksh.247,943 in the 2024/25 financial year.
Similarly, Majority and Minority Leaders will earn Ksh.191,324 per month from July onwards, with their monthly salary expected to increase to Ksh.204,717 in the following financial year.
In an interview with Citizen Digital, the MCAs in Mandera are opposed to the suggested salary increase, mainly due to the fact that county speakers, deputy speakers, majority, and minority leaders are essentially MCAs themselves.
“The Commission has only increased the basic salary by a mere Ksh.10,000 in order to cater for the 1.5 pc Kenya Kwanza government housing levy. We, therefore, call upon all MCAs in the country to come out and reject the new proposals by SRC in its entirety,” another MCA said.
“Where is the transparency and fairness in that circular that SRC put forward yesterday? How can they increase salaries for a section of MCAs and leave others?” Mandera MCA asked.
In response, the Mandera MCAs have called on their colleagues from other counties to go on strike as a form of protest against the salary adjustments.
“One thing the SRC must understand is that the majority leader, minority leader, speaker and the deputy speaker are first and foremost MCAs .” quoted another MCA
