Nyandarua County Senator Methu Muhia has rejected a pay rise of Ksh 366,011 in mileage that has been offered to the lawmakers by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
Methu, in a statement shared via his official social media accounts, argued that he never asked for the salary increase and urged other lawmakers in the National Assembly and the Senate to follow suit.
According to Methu, President William Ruto had committed to reducing government expenditure due to the tough economic times, terming the increase in the salaries of the lawmakers as untimely and saying that it will just end up overburdening the taxpayers.
Methu’s letter to SRC
Methu further stated that he would be writing an official letter to the SRC rejecting the salary increment, arguing that it is wrong for a few of them to live in opulence whilst the rest of Kenyans suffer.
“SRC has given me an increase of 366k starting in the month of April; however, I never asked for an increase from SRC. I don’t want my salary to be increased. I will be writing an official letter to that effect and am urging all my colleagues to do the same. How can a few of us live in opulence when millions of Kenyans are suffering? This has to stop; these games we keep playing with struggling Kenya have to stop, and any leader who is on the side of the people should come out and reject this offer,” Methu stated.
SRC increases MPs’ salaries
The salary increment is supposed to take effect from April 1, 2025.
In addition to travel reimbursement claims that the lawmakers submit based on the distance between their rural constituencies and the capital, Nairobi, the pay rise will reflect on the MPs’ pay slips as a fixed monthly mileage allowance.
A report by Daily Nation on Saturday, March 29, detailed that the 416 MPs in the National Assembly and Senate will cost taxpayers Ksh 4.4 billion for the 29 months leading up to the general election in August 2027.
Each month, the MPs receive a lump sum payment for their allowances and reimbursement claims, in addition to the KSh 739,600 gross salary that SRC set in the July 27, 2022, and August 9, 2023, gazette notices.
In a letter to PSC secretary and Senate clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye, SRC secretary and CEO Anne Gitau states that the pay rise was approved at the SRC meeting on March 20, 2025, following his request.
Kenyan taxpayers would pay Ksh 1.83 billion annually, translating to Ksh 152.3 million monthly as a result of the new fixed mileage. According to the new SRC structure, all MPs whose counties or constituencies are more than 205 kilometers from the Parliament buildings in Nairobi will additionally get mileage claims for one weekly return trip at a rate of KSh 152.6 per kilometer.
