This archive report was first published on 6 July 2019.
Members of Parliament (MPs) have devised a new scheme to claim a 'night' allowance, sparking outrage among Kenyans already burdened by the high cost of living.
According to sources in the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), the new allowance, dubbed 'Domestic Subsistence Facilitation', entitles each MP to between Sh18,200 and Sh24,000 per night.
With parliamentary business conducted between Tuesday and Thursday, MPs can claim the money for four nights, amounting to Sh96,000 each per week and up to Sh384,000 per month in night allowance.
On the days Parliament is not in session, lawmakers are entitled to mileage claims calculated on the basis of the distance between Parliament Buildings and an individual MP's constituency.
The new 'night' allowance comes hot on the heels of the storm caused by the lawmakers' move to claim Sh250,000 per month in house allowance backdated to October last year.
Already, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has gone to court to challenge the housing allowance on the grounds that MPs, being State officers, lack the powers to decide their own remuneration.
MPs started collecting the new allowance this week, with Protection House registering an increase in the number of lawmakers streaming in to fill out the claim forms.
However, it is still unclear who authorised the allowance and on what basis the MPs are claiming it.
