The Parliamentary Budget Office has okayed publication of constitutional amendment bill that if enacted will require President to pick Cabinet Secretaries from among Members of Parliament.
As per the Parliamentary Budget Office, the draft bill by West Mugirango MP Vincent Mogaka who also wants Article 152 (3), which bars a Cabinet Secretary from being an MP deleted, will reduce the public wage bill by Sh223.7 million annually.
“The financial implication of the bill arises from the fact that where Cabinet Secretaries are appointed from among MPs, there will be a reduced number of state officers. There will be cost savings in terms of security personnel, travel costs among others,” the office says.
A Gazette notice by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) revealed that a Cabinet Secretary is paid Sh924, 000 in monthly gross remuneration. The government will be saving up to Sh500,000 for each of the 22 Cabinet Secretaries and an MP appointed to the Cabinet will be earning an additional Sh400,000 per month in the form of a responsibility allowance, will be significant in reducing the cost of running the government. Also, the cost savings on pension contributions and other costs at 35 per cent of the gross remuneration of a CS will be significantly reduced.
“The enactment of this bill will take us to a parliamentary system where the Executive will be partly in the House. There may be no distinct separation of powers between the Executive and Legislature as provided for in the Constitution,” PBO added.
Part of the draft proposes to an amendment to provide that Cabinet Secretaries be referred to as Cabinet Ministers as was the case before the new Constitution.
