Members of Parliament will lose millions of shillings in perks after the revision of parliamentary sittings to one from two days a week.
MPs will now be paid Sh10,000 for the two sessions that will be held every Thursday starting this week down from Sh60,000 they earned for six sittings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Speaker Justin Muturi last week directed that MPs would only hold plenary sitting on Thursday morning and afternoon down from Tuesday and Thursday in a bid to tame the spread of the coronavirus.
Traditionally, the business of the House is transacted on Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoon and the whole day on Wednesdays.
Muturi, however, cut the sittings to two days from July 2 to stem the spread of Covid-19 after several MPs tested positive.
The House will reconvene this afternoon after a 26-day recess amid tight sitting schedule.
Under the new arrangement, the House will hold morning and afternoon sittings on Thursday commencing at 10am and at 2.30pm, respectively.
Thereafter Tuesday and Thursday sittings shall stand suspended.
“That, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 28(4), and taking cognisance of the recent rise in the spread of Covid-19 pandemic in the country, this House resolves to further alter its Calendar for the Fourth Session (Regular Sessions-2020), as amended on June 2, 2020, and therefore orders as follows with respect to the Sittings of the House during the period July 30 to August 13, 2020,” said Leader of Majority Amos Kimunya in a procedural Motion set for adoption tomorrow.
The outbreak of coronavirus had on July 2 forced the House to alter its calendar to hold daylong sittings only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The new measures have been necessitated by the rise in the number of MPs and staff who have tested positive for Covid-19.
Muturi on June 30 announced that two MPs had tested positive for coronavirus without revealing their identities.
