NAIROBI: Kenyans have reacted angrily to a move by their Members of Parliament to secretly award themselves a hefty sendoff package as the term of the current legislature nears its end, describing the move as shameless and selfish. Kenyans who spoke to the Channel One television station on Sunday said the more than 2.0 billion shillings (about 23.54 million USD) send-off package the legislators gave themselves could have gone to better use, such as investing in either the health or education sectors in the country. The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) described the changes introduced in the Finance Act by Parliament to increase their allowances as unlawful and unconstitutional. CIC Chairman Charles Nyachae said the changes were a direct conflict with the constitutional mandate of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission. If the president assented to the Bill to make it a law, the CIC would challenge the provision in a court of law, he warned. Meanwhile, the NARC-Kenya party leader, Martha Karua, has asked President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to reject the bid by the MPs to raise their severance perks. Karua said the president should not assent to the Finance Bill 2012, which has a clause that grants each of the lawmakers 9.3 million shillings as a send-off at the end of their term. She stated that the Constitution did not allow MPs to give themselves an increment in their salary, allowance or other incentive, which she said is a role of the Salary and Remuneration Commission. She called on citizens to elect leaders who would implement the Constitution for the good of Kenyans. Speaking in Kisii in Nyanza Province, former Assistant Trade Minister Omingo Magara vowed to challenge the move in court if the president assented to the Finance Bill. Speaking in Kitutu Chache in Kisii County, the outspoken former legislator claimed that the move by the MPs to share among themselves more than 2.0 billion shillings was immoral and under-rated the intelligence of Kenyans.
