Millie Odhiambo: I have no problem being called greedy
Outspoken legislator Millie Odhiambo is now calling for the disbandment of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
The Mbita lawmaker also declared, in an exclusive interview on NTV’s political show Sidebar on Wednesday night, that she is comfortable to be referred to as “greedy” if the greed will help prosper the people she represents in the National Assembly.
Ms Odhiambo is one of the few legislators who have been vocal about the proposed salary reductions and implemented by the SRC which is headed by Sarah Serem.
Millie Odhiambo: I am happy to be greedy as long as my greed helps the people of Mbita #Sidebar pic.twitter.com/Ew8TsTdABy
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) August 30, 2017
In justifying her need for a pay raise, Ms Odhiambo argued that she requires about Sh1 million a month in order to serve her constituents, adding that about Sh200,000 of that amount is channeled towards “contributing for funerals”.
The salary commission recently reduced legislators’ salaries from Sh710,000 to Sh620,250 and scrapped several allowances effective at the start of the 12th Parliament.
President Uhuru Kenyatta recently swore that he would not sign any Bill seeking to increase MPs’ salaries.
Ms Odhiambo, meanwhile, argued that Serem and her colleagues at the SRC, who earn “twice as much as I do”, should now go home considering they “have finished their job of deciding how much civil servants should earn”.
