New Report Ranks Kenyan MPs Among The Greediest

Members of Parliament have come under stinging criticism over their appetite for money, which a new report that covers 10 other African countries, says has opened the gap wider between the rich and poor.

State of The Union Kenya Report 2010, released on Saturday by a British charity, Oxfam International, takes issue with MPs’ reluctance to pay taxes and their rabid lust for money, even if illicit, which puts them worlds apart with the poorest of society.

The release of the report, two days after the legislators ended their boycott of business in Parliament over a pay increment dispute, is an indictment of perversity in the body politics.

For two weeks, MPs had refused to go on recess and ensured there was no quorum in the House for business to be conducted to compel Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta to bow to demands for higher perks in exchange for concessions on taxation. The report terms the political elite as "morally depraved".

If granted their wish, it would have resulted in MPs’ monthly salary shooting to more than Sh1.1 million from their untaxed Sh851,000.

The report is unwelcome news to MPs, with their public standing dipping further following massive outcry over their unrestrained urge to raid public coffers.

The report says MPs’ apathy to taxation and inclination to stash illicitly acquired money in offshore accounts contributes to aversion to accountability, giving a fillip to capital flight. The report comes less than a week after the Kenya Revenue Authority announced it had Sh6 billion deficit in revenue collection in the third quarter of the year.

Had the MPs and senior Judiciary officers agreed to pay taxes, it is estimated that they would provide over Sh0.5 billion to the taxman. The report says tax is a crucial factor in good governance as it promotes the trust of the electorate.

"Taxation is the glue that holds citizens and governments together in terms of accountability. Taxation is central to governance. The abuse of public revenue threatens this relationship," says the report, based on studies in Rwanda, Mozambique, Nigeria, Egypt, Senegal, Algeria, Ghana, Cameroon and South Africa.

This will most likely rankle the MPs, who on Thursday only relented in their push upon assurances by President Kibaki and Uhuru that their salaries would not be taxed before the 11th Parliament.

After the kamukunji, chaired by Speaker Kenneth Marende, The Standard On Sunday sought the opinion of MPs on the whether the report is a reflection of the conduct of local politics. Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth, who has voluntarily asked KRA to be taxing his salary, would not comment beyond, "It is unfair to lump me with the rest who do not pay taxes. You know well that I’m one of the only two MPs who are taxed." The other is Kagundo MP Johnstone Muthama.

Ikolomani MP and chairman of the House Public Accounts Committee Bony Khalwale opted to stay clear of the topic.

"I am constrained by Standing Orders from commenting on an issue before the House," was his curt response.

The MPs’ unwillingness to discuss the issue notwithstanding, the study links taxation to corruption. Ranked on scale of the most corrupt governments, Kenya topped the list followed by Nigeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Mozambique, Senegal, Algeria, Ghana and South Africa.

Kenya also is among top African nations where capital flight is rife as the political class attempt to hedge against political uncertainties as result of the political situation on the continent that is in perpetual state of flux.

Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/InsidePage.php?id=2000014680&cid=4