Peter Salasya's payslip ignites debate on Kenyan MPs real worth and frivolous expenditures

On July 3, the MP, who is never shy of sharing his lifestyle with Kenyans, took to his social media pages to share his June salary - inviting Kenyans to dissect his earnings and gawk at his significant deductions.

"Hii ndio salary yangu. Kama yangu inakaa hivi, ya askari mwalimu na daktari zinakaa aje?" Salasya said.

From the payslip, apart from the MP's basic salary of Ksh.435,301, the MP was paid an administrative allowance of Ksh. 140,201, a house allowance of Ksh.150,000 and a sitting allowance of Ksh.67,500.

The MP was also paid a telephone allowance of Ksh.15,000 and a vehicle fixed cost of Ksh.356,525.

The basic pay plus allowances totalled Ksh.1,164,527.

However, the amount was subjected to glaringly huge deductions which reduced his net pay significantly.

From the amount, Ksh.360,466 was deducted as PAYE, Ksh.541,947 went to mortgage, the staff pension fund took Ksh.54,847, Ksh.16,455 was deducted as Housing Levy and NHIF took Ksh.1,700.

Other deductions are Ksh.85,981 for car loan, Ksh.4,640 for ration and messing, Ksh.5,000 for Kenya Young Parliament Association (KYPA), Sacco Deposits Ksh.10,000, Housing Shares Ksh.10,000, Pacoso shares Ksh.70,000 and Car loan life insurance Ksh.1,124.

In total, the deductions came to Ksh.1,162,162, leaving the MP with a paltry Ksh.2,364 as net pay.

After the slip went viral, many Kenyans online reacted differently, with the vast majority saying that some of Salasya's expenses were his own making and that he did not deserve sympathy from Kenyans for deductions he was solely responsible for.

Financial analyst Kachwanya said, "When you take loans, mortgage and shares, those are personal commitments that should not be used to seek sympathy from the public...their salaries should be reduced to Ksh.200K max!"

Someone else said, "Now, ask yourself how this man survives throughout the month with less than 3k. Obviously, this is where handouts come into play. And CDF money too. These people will never fail to be corrupt!"

X personality Dr. Reign also weighed in, saying, "And then you want to pay Kenyans that studied medicine for 7 years a taxable stipend of 70k. Even us medical specialists with decades of experience don’t get half this salary!"

On Dr. Kingori's YouTube show, the host asked Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah to explain the payslip and give his perspective.

After a breakdown of the deductions, Omtatah said," The car loan is a car grant. When you go in the Senate, you're given a car grant of 7.5 million. You don't have to pay it back. All you needed to do is to produce a logbook to show that you have the car."

"If you've gotten a car loan, it means you've gone to get an extra expenditure which, maybe, you didn't require. It's a question of managing lifestyles."

Omtatah went on to say that most of Salasya's deductions were his own creations - things he could have easily avoided by checking his lifestyle.

"If you look at most of those deductions, they're self-inflicted challenges. The first line of income for me, is my lifestyle...." he said.

On the MP's half a million deductions on mortgage, Omtatah said, "You're talking about 26-28 million shillings. That's money which could have gone into putting up a big palace at home or here in Nairobi."

On Citizen TV's Day Break show, Belgut MP Nelson Koech said, "Members of Parliament are living a lie; a fake life; an illusion. They take loans to give out in Harambees so that they can be reelected and continue to live this life that is not real."