This archive report was first published on 10 July 2019.
On July 10, 2019, Chief Justice David Maraga appointed a three-judge bench to hear a case challenging the Ksh.250,000 monthly house allowance to Members of Parliament.
Justices Pauline Nyamweya (presiding), Weldon Korir, and John Mativo will now hear and determine the case filed by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
The petition will be mentioned for further directions on July 18, 2019.
Each of the 416 legislators – 349 National Assembly members and 67 Senators – had previously awarded themselves Ksh.250,000 in monthly house allowances backdated to October 2018.
The SRC had opposed this move, warning that the scheme would result in loss of public funds in excess of Ksh.99.5 million per month and Ksh.1.194 billion annually.
On June 1, 2019, the High Court in Nairobi granted SRC orders stopping the Parliamentary Service Commission from paying MPs the disputable house allowance.
Justice Korir ruled, 'In the circumstances, I direct that the file be taken to the Registrar so as to forward it to the Chief Justice for empanelment of a bench.'
