Kenya President Mwai Kibaki rejects MPs' bonus attempt

On October 9, 2012, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki rejected an attempt by Kenyan members of Parliament to pay themselves a bonus of more than $105,000. The members of Parliament are up for reelection in March 2013 and proposed this bonus be paid before their tenures expire. Their attempt to pass this legislation as part of the Finance Act sparked Kenyan citizens to engage in mass protests outside Kenya’s House of Parliament. In addition to citizens already being upset that MP’s (members of Parliament) get paid $9,982 per month already compared to the minimum wage a normal Kenyan citizen makes of $1,500 per year, they were outraged that tax increases are likely in order to foot the $23 million bill. (2)

This issue is significant to Kenya for several reasons, demonstrating both the strengths of Kenya’s current political state as well as its weaknesses. Before discussing strengths and weaknesses of this act Kenyan politics, it is first significant to note that in 2010 Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki signed a new constitution granting among other things, citizens’ a Bill of Rights, Parliamentary oversight of most presidential appointments and decisions, constitutional limits on the number of cabinet posts, and a senate to review parliamentary decisions. In short, all of these institutions provide a system of checks and balances on authoritarian power and they undermine historical tribal politics. (1)

One positive aspect that can be drawn about Kenya’s political system from this article is that the ability of Parliament to impose taxes demonstrates state capacity, which as we discussed in class has proved to be a challenge for many African countries after gaining their independence. Another positive aspect of this article is that it discusses the MPs respecting their term limits as outline in their constitution. This demonstrates that corruption is not as bad as it previously has been in politics. Thirdly, this system of government has done much to combat the challenges of a very diverse ethnic population. Before the new constitution was passed in 2010, there used to be mass chaos and violence between ethnic and tribal groups after each election. This was because the elections were weighted so heavily that the distribution of public goods between ethnic groups would be very skewed depending on who won the election. (1) The distribution of public goods among ethnic groups was one challenge that we discussed in class. Another way this article highlights the strengths of Kenya’s political system is that it demonstrates the respect of Kenyan citizens rights in the form of protesting. This right was outlined in the bill of rights in the 2010 constitution. It is very encouraging to see that the governments’ first reaction was not to forcibly stop the protest. Finally, the President and Prime Minister both oppose the bonus paid to the MPs. This demonstrates the success of the system of checks and balances outlined in the Kenyan constitution and a step in the right direction for implementing true democratic rule.

Despite all of the positive things that can be drawn from this article, Kenya still has a long way to go to be recognized as free and fair by the international community. One thing this article is indicative of is that the distribution of wealth within Kenya is not even. Rather than $23 million dollars being paid to a few elites in Parliament, it needs to be spread out to the population to foster the growth of a middle class and raise living standards, prerequisites to effective democracy.  Also, it is demonstrative that corruption in the Keynan political system still exists.

Works Cited

1. Greste, Peter. "Kenya's new constitution sparks hopes of rebirth." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-11103008>.

2. "Kenya President Mwai Kibaki rejects MPs' bonus attempt." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19892524>.