Murkomen: Most MPs cannot afford paycuts, my salary is less than Sh10,000

Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen on Tuesday, April 14, defended MPs not willing to contribute towards helping in the COVID-19 fight, saying that they take home little money.

The legislator said that most MPs commit a huge chunk of their salaries into paying back mortgages and loans.  

“Many members of Parliament, when they join parliament, commit all their salaries to mortgages and loans and so whatever they take home at the moment is less than Sh10,000 for most of them; some don’t even get anything. Many of you never understand," said Murkomen. 

Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV, Murkomen revealed that his 30 per cent contribution won’t help as he only takes home Sh10,000 after deductions.

Murkomen said that since his salary pay cut won’t help in anyway, he will resort to giving personal donations from his other incomes such as farming.

 “I'll give my personal donation from my other incomes like farming, which will be better than say a 30 percent deduction from my 10k."

"I had a discussion with the Parliamentary Service Commission and I want to disclose this publicly. My salary is less than Sh10,000 so I told myself that it would not be beneficial for me to contribute Sh5,000 or so,” added Murkomen.

When asked about his stand concerning the pay cuts, The National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said that big corporate companies making billions should cushion Kenyans against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"A pay cut of Sh30,000 or Sh0,000 or Sh200,000 is not the issue. The issue today is how the blue-chip companies are posting billions in terms of profit, by today, they should be giving back to the Kenyan people. They should donate Sh2 billion or so,” said Duale.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, while announcing his 80 percent pay cut, urged other leaders to do the same, adding that his deputy William Ruto also agreed to have his salary slashed.

On March 26, Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino wrote to the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, saying that he will take a 50% salary pay cut.

Nandi Governor Stephen Sang' on March 23 also announced that he would take a 30 percent pay cut for March and April.

Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro also vowed to commit 100 percent of his April 2020 salary to help fight the spread of coronavirus.