Elections in Kenya 2007: How Many MPs Will Make It Back To The House?

The current members of parliament are perhaps the greediest lot that Kenyans have seen since independence and it will take a miracle for even 10% of them to be re-elected come the general elections expected later this year.

When the legislators started their term in 2003, they were already overpaid earning close to 400,000 monthly in salaries and allowances but four years down the line they have increases their remunerations even further to almost Sh 1 million and are among the best paid law makers in the world.

This they did in complete disregard of the abject poverty in the country with about 70% of the people living on less than a dollar per day and have to make do with only one meal.

To add insult to injury, the legislators also set for themselves attractive perks like a sh 3 million car grant with the privilege of importing the vehicles duty free. Little wonder that when pedestrians see state-of-the-art vehicles speeding along streets of Nairobi the question they ask each other is which member of parliament is passing by as they are notoriously known for acquiring the biggest cars at the expense of tax payers yet they can also easily pass for the laziest lawmakers in the world.

Apparently, the only time that the legislators seem to agree wholesome on any issue is when they have bills in parliament proposing the increase of their pay.

As if that was not enough, during the last seating before the Christmas break, the MPs passed a bill to increase the president's salary from Sh 2 million to Sh 3.3 million in a move that saw president Kibaki reject the new package after a public outcry from the civil society and church leaders. But what is really strange is why the president did not order his foot soldiers to shoot down the bill while it was still in the house. As it is, there seems to have been some input from state house when it was still on the floor of the house.

Little did Kenyans know that the legislators were only setting the stage to secure their own sh 1.5 million each at the end of their five year term later this year in what they called a golden handshake.

This insensitivity among our lawmakers has also seen them draw lots of cash from the various committees they sit on in parliament not to mention the foreign trips that are so frequent and add no value to the debates or motions passed in the house.

What is most disheartening is that most of these legislators have little academic qualification with even a few of them being semi-illiterate and one wonders why they think they deserve to be paid so much money notwithstanding the sorry state of the majority of Kenyans.

This move has made the legislators so unpopular though many of them have invested wisely especially in real estate and will not live desperate lives when they are inevitably voted out later in the year.

Arrogance has also come along with the big perks and most of them have not only deserted their constituents but when cornered by hungry citizens are quick to dish hand outs while others simply ignore their employers with rude comments like they have made enough money and will not be blackmailed by the electorate.

The lawmakers have now resulted to philandering lifestyles and many of them have been seen picking up prostitutes at the notorious Nairobi red ligh disctrict of Koinange street and paying well for the services they get from the mostly underage call girls.

A common joke in the streets of Nairobi is that city prostitutes have raised their fees to fend off the ordinary citizens as they are now targeting the lawmakers only, since they have plenty of cash and a lot of free time for philandering.

Kenyans are well aware of all this and it remains to be seen how these outgoing legislators will explain themselves to the voters when the election campaigns kick off.