CIC loses case against MPs’ bid to control pay

By PAMELA CHEPKEMEI

The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) yesterday lost a bid to stop Members of Parliament from controlling their salaries and remuneration.

CIC wanted the court to stop Parliament from passing the Amendment Bill that will effectively remove them from being classified as State officers and enable them control their own pay.

High Court Judge Isaac Lenaola declined to quash the Amendment Bill that will allow House members to control their pay once it is passed into law.

The judge said the case filed by CIC was premature because the matter was still being debated in the House.

 “There is one question that has lingered in my mind. Since the Bill is incomplete and its language yet to be settled, what then am I being asked to strike down? Had the petitioner waited until the same is passed and within 30 days before presidential assent, this court would have had something tangible to work with,” added Judge Lenaola.

The judge, however, gave some reprieve to CIC by directing that it can still challenge Parliament in court should the Bill become law.

“The petition is ordered to be dismissed but the petitioner is at liberty to apply later in the legislative process should it be minded to do so,” said Justice Lenaola.

He further directed that the copies of the judgment be given to the Attorney General Clerks to the National Assembly and the Senate for necessary action. CIC moved to court last month seeking to stop Parliament from passing a Bill that will allow House members to control their pay.

The remuneration of State officers, including MPs and senators, is controlled by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

The commission argued that the amendment proposed will curtail the powers and functions of SRC by withdrawing the power granted to it under the Constitution to set and regularly review the remuneration and benefits of MPs, judges and magistrates, members of county assemblies, governors, deputy governors and members of county governments.

CIC argued that Article 230 of the Constitution has established the SRC, whose power and function is to set and regularly review the remuneration and benefits of all State officers.

But Parliament and the Senate, in their grounds of opposition, argued that the court had no jurisdiction under the Constitution to issue the orders sought by CIC.