MCAs are among the best paid Kenyans, a new report shows. Their perks clearly dwarf the pay of university professors.
The report of the Controller of Budget (CoB) shows that some MCAs still take home about Sh400,000 per month in salary and allowances, despite the financial crunch that hit counties late last year.
Counties were starved of cash following the standoff between the National Assembly and the Senate over the Division of Revenue Bill.
The CoB report, however, shows that MCAs rewarded themselves handsomely, with ward reps from Nakuru county exceeding the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) limit on sitting allowance.
The SRC recommended monthly ceiling stands at Sh124,800. However, the Nakuru MCAs each earned an average sitting allowance of Sh125,148 for three months between July 1 and September 30, 2019.
This means that the MCAs took home about Sh399,148 in pay alone excluding local and foreign trips.
MCAs are entitled to a monthly salary of Sh165,000, Sh5,000 for airtime and monthly mileage allowance of Sh39,800 for intra-county travel.
This could explain why the MCA's post has become a much-sought-after job, characterised by do-or-die campaigns.
The statistics show that MCAs, some of whose academic credentials are questionable, earn more than university professors, most of whom have spent years in class.
Lecturer salaries in Kenya range between Sh85,000 to Sh266,162 based on experience and qualification.
In the three months period, all the 2,200 MCAs all the 47 devolved units and their speakers had spent Sh475.41 million in sitting allowances alone.
In the 2019-20 budget, the MCAs had allocated Sh2.55 billion for their sitting allowances.
Vihiga, Meru, Migori, Baringo and Kakamega are among the devolved units where MCAs pocketed more than Sh100,000 in sitting allowance per month, the CoB report indicates
In Vihiga, the ward reps took Sh124,294, Meru Sh123,767, Migori Sh121,572, Kakamega Sh112,302 and Baringo Sh104, 264.
However, six county assemblies did not report any expenditure on sitting allowance during the reporting period.
They include Kilifi, Kisumu, Mandera, Mombasa, Taita Taveta,