Opiyo Wandayi worried about MPs salary delay

Minority leader in the National Assembly James Opiyo Wandayi is concerned about Members of Parliament (MPs) salary delays.

The second term Ugunja MP in a statement on Friday said legislatures are yet to be paid their March, 2023 salaries.

"For the first time in our history, even MPs have not been paid as we head towards mid-month," he said.

Members of Parliament alongside security officers are normally among the first public servants to be paid. They receive their salaries from the 26th of each month.

However, Wandayi says only security officers have so far been paid, as MPs and other public servants continue to wait.

He said that salary delays have been a common phenomenon, since December 2022.

"For the first time since independence in 1963, the government of Kenya is unable to pay salaries to civil servants and members of parliament. Nearly all civil servants don't know when or if they will ever be paid. The situation has been degenerating progressively since December last year.”

He says the delays do only affect the civil servants in question, but also the people who depend on them.

He wants sections of government organs to be investigated, over the salary delays.

“We need to take a close and thorough look at the goings-on at revenue collection points and revenue sources like Kenya Airports Authority, the courts, customs, National Social Security Fund (NSSF), aids and grants and revenue administration in addition to probing government spending,” stated the vocal legislature.

“Where are the proceeds from taxes and savings from scrapped subsidies going? How can it be that we scrapped subsidies, increased taxes and continued to borrow, only for our financial situation to get worse?”

The MP claimed ‘criminals’ at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) are collecting and pocketing taxes, as “incompetents at National Treasury also skim off the revenue while failing to come up with sound policies for cash flow.”