EAST AFRICAN POLITICS
Kenyatta vows MPs’ pay cuts will stay
The issue is emotive Kenya where the minimum wage is equivalent to $100 a month
Nairobi — President Uhuru Kenyatta rebuked Kenya’s newly elected MPs on Thursday for resisting modest cuts to their salaries and perks, worth more than $10,000 a month, and said citizens were angry with extravagance in the government. Kenyatta, whose August 8 re-election is being challenged in the supreme court by opposition leader Raila Odinga, vowed not to assent to any law reversing the cuts to legislators’ wages, if the court upholds his victory. The issue is an emotive one in the East African country, where the minimum wage is equivalent to $100 a month. An MP who sits on the parliamentary service commission, Gladys Wanga, told Reuters on Wednesday that the cuts, which have already taken effect, would turn MPs into "beggars", and vowed to oppose them when parliament restarted next week. Kenyatta told a televised meeting with head teachers: "I’m greatly disturbed by the remarks we have been hearing from yesterday of individuals who wish to claim that they should be paid more and...
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