Kenyans are outraged by a proposal to pay hefty salaries to the wives of the prime minister and vice-president.
A leaked document says the head of civil service Francis Muthaura has directed that they each be paid $6,000 (£3,000) every month.
But MPs have vowed to shoot down the proposal in parliament, saying it is too expensive for the economy.
Kenyan tax-payers are already paying heavily for the cabinet – the largest ever – with more than 40 ministers.
A government memo leaked to the local media directs that Ida Odinga and Pauline Musyoka, wives of the prime minister and vice-president respectively, will be rewarded for their roles as hostesses.
Ida Odinga Pauline and Kalonzo Musyoka [Enlarge]
The pay is also supposed to recognise their role for upholding national family values.
‘Over-burdened’
But Eugene Wamalwa, an MP and brother for former Vice-President Micheal Kijana Wamalwa, says the tax-payer is already over-burdened and the allowances are uncalled for.
“The prime minister and vice-president attract one of the highest salaries in the world and that will be sufficient for couples,” Mr Wamalwa said.
And former head of the Kenyan chapter of Transparency International Gladwell Otieno said the move is a confirmation that Kenyan politicians are just a greedy caste, looking after themselves at the expense of poor Kenyans recovering from the effects of post-election violence.
The two women will join First Lady Lucy Kibaki, whose allowances increased last year to nearly $8,000 a month.
President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed to share power in February after negotiations led by former UN head Kofi Annan to end weeks of violent clashes.
Some 1,500 people died and 600,000 left homeless around the country after last December’s disputed elections.
A common measure of the size of a country’s economy is the so-called Gross Domestic Product. It is the value of all final goods and services produced in a country in one year. Using the online CIA World Fact Book as our source of statistics for last year, we compare Kenya with three rich countries.
In size, Germany is smaller than Kenya’s Eastern Province but its estimated GDP for last year was $3.259 trillion. That is roughly 112 times greater than Kenya’s GDP. Even with a population two and half times that of Kenya, we can agree that Germany is truly a rich country.
Kenya is divided into eight provinces:
1. Central
2. Coast
3. Eastern
4. Nairobi
5. North Eastern
6. Nyanza
7. Rift Valley
8. Western
The provinces are subdivided into 71 districts (wilaya’at) which are then subdivided into 262 divisions (tarafa). The divisions are subdivided into 2,427 locations (kata) and then 6,612 sublocations (kata ndogo) [1]. A province is administered by a Provincial Commissioner (PC). Kenyan local authorities mostly do not follow common boundaries with divisions. They are classified as City, Municipality, Town or County councils. A third discrete type of classification are constituencies. They are further subdivided into wards. SOURCE: Central Bureaus of Statistics (Kenya): Census cartography: The Kenyan Experience [Figures subject to change]
The desert country of the United Arab Emirates has a population ten times smaller than Kenya. In area, it is exactly the size of Coast Province and yet its economy is six and half times bigger.
Israel, another desert country with even fewer resources, is only slightly larger than Nyanza Province, but its economy is four and half times bigger than ours.
In all these countries, pay and perks for top public and private sector officials is equal or less than those of their Kenyan counterparts. Surprised?
In the US State of Arkansas, the Governor earns a salary of U$80,000 per annum, or about Sh400,000 a month. He has two official vehicles. His use of the official helicopter is restricted to urgent and emergency situations only. He often drives himself on weekends and will be seen picking his own groceries at the local grocery. Arkansas, with the same population as Nairobi City, has an economy five times that of Kenya.
The governor of the US State of Maine earns even less — Sh350,000 per month. The governor’s pay has not been raised in 20 years! And yet Maine, whose population is the same as that of Lang’ata Constituency, has an economy twice that of Kenya.
Taken From: How rich is Kenya, really?
Popularity: 6% [?]
Sphere: Related Content
