Kenyans are to pay sh20bn to compensate for the increased members of parliament. Changes that will see the number of its member’s increasing. Consequently, it is expected that the sh20bn Kenyans are to pay will see to address the MPs’ luxurious needs. This translates to the Kenyan citizens complying with the increased budget, reflecting in their taxes unapologetically. Apparently, the bid to address the gender gap through amending the constitution comes with a price. For the 13th parliament to be gender inclusive, Kenyans must be ready to pay sh20b.
Gender state of the country in the parliament
The Kenyan National Assembly constitutes 349 MPs. 76 of whom are women. That is roughly 21 percent of the total members. The senate constitutes 68 members. 21 of whom are women, that is 30 percent of the total members. The total number of MPs is expected to rise to 640. Hopefully, the number of women has well been accounted for.
The breakdown for Kenyans sh20bn parliamentary budget
A Kenyan MP is well compensated for his or her services to the parliament. This sees them earning an sh10.8 million as cumulative basic salary and allowance fee. This amount further serves to cater for responsibility allowance, sitting allowance, and vehicle fixed cost, of course. Moreover, they are entitled to a 40 million mortgage. Additionally, every member is granted sh15 million per year for administrative costs. It doesn’t end there; there is an sh5 million one-off car grant allowance.
Moving to the constituencies, sh12 million accounts for maintaining one office. This is with sh9.6 million accompaniments that take care of the mileage cost in a year. Nonetheless, according to the Kenya electoral board IEBC, a ward spends the least sh9 million for its elections. A constituency bags more than three times this amount, which is sh30 million for elections.
The gender top-up
To ensure gender equity, two senators, male and female, are expected to fill up the spaces. This translates to an additional 94 persons to the current 416 members. With the 180 more women added, the total sums up to 640 members. There will also be an increase of the constituencies to 360 from the current 290.
Comparing the new parliament to other African members
Kenya has managed to present itself as rich compared to other countries in the continent. For example, in Rwanda, the lower house accommodates 80 seats. 49 of these are occupied by women, which is 61 percent of the total seats. The Upper house has 26, with 10 of them belonging to women. South Africa has 394 lower house seats,167 being women’s seats. That is 42 percent. The upper house has 54 seats, 38 percent of them belonging to women.
Not all are on board with the idea.
Some leaders are in parallel with the idea of increasing the number of MPs. However, others like Nyando MP Jared Okello believe that the move will only improve service delivery. The National Assembly Minority Leader Aden Duale and Senate Minority Leader Mutula Kilonzo Jr. expressed their concerns. They certainly are not of the idea to increase the number.
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