Former MPs who get salaries should be arrested MP

Any former Member of Parliament who still receives a salary despite losing in the past General Election should be arrested, Manyatta Member of Parliament John Muchiri has said.

Speaking at a Full Gospel Church in Embu Town on Sunday, Muchiri said that such leaders should be blacklisted from vying in any other election because they are breaching public trust, adding that all corruption cases should be dealt with accordingly.

On his part, former Manyatta MP Emilio Kathuri termed former MPs who continue to draw salaries thieves, adding that the system at Parliament was coded thus it was easy to find out who the thieves were.

On Friday, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) revealed that several former members of Parliament were still receiving salaries despite losing their seats.

In an audit report handed over to National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi on Friday, EACC stated that the Public Service Commission (PSC) had not updated its payroll leading to payment of salaries to former MPs.

“A brief analysis of the payroll shows that the names of former Members of Parliament were still being reflected in the payroll at the time of the examination,” stated the report in part.

The report noted that PSC does not do payroll reconciliation statements making it difficult to ensure variations in the payroll from one month to the other are identified, investigated and explained.

EACC further claimed that there exists a tendency by some MPs to sign on behalf of absent members during committee meetings leading to irregular payment of allowances.

The anti graft body also urged officers to ensure that all financial records are properly and promptly prepared, regularly audited and readily accessible for review.

By Jemimah Gathoni