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Cabinet should not approve MPs' new demand
By
Our Reporter - 13-08-2002 |
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Cabinet could do well to reject a recommendation by Parliament's Public Appointments and Declaration of Assets Committee that government should start contributing 50 percent towards the purchase of MPs' vehicles in addition to the import duty waiver the legislators are already enjoying.
After the recent increase in their perks, MPs now take home over K100,000 per month as follows: K12,000 basic pay, K24,000 motor vehicle recovery allowances, K20,000 maintenance allowance, K30,000 constituency allowance, K13,850 office allowance—which includes water, electricity and telephone—and K1,500 education allowance. Add to this sitting allowances of K6,000 per sitting day.
The MPs say they want government to write off 50 percent of their motor vehicle loans because they use their vehicles as ambulances in their constituencies.
We are saying the money they are getting is adequate to enable them to comfortably help their constituents.
What the MPs should not lose sight of is the fact that the national cake is too small to meet some of their demands without straining other equally deserving areas.
As we are talking now, government has failed to raise about K32 million for bursaries for needy secondary school pupils throughout the country.
We, therefore, just can't see the moral ground on which government would find it proper to pay millions for MPs' cars when it cannot keep needy students in school.
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