New Pay for Top Kenyan Spouses Sparks Outrage

Reports of a new $6,000 monthly allowance for the spouses of Kenya’s prime minister and vice president has sparked outrage in the country, which is already burdened by the expenses of a large coalition government formed earlier this year. Some legislators have already declared they will block the proposals, saying taxpayers were already carrying a heavy load in supporting the country’s 40 member cabinet. One legislator, Eugene Wamalwa, has termed the allowances are unnecessary because Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka already draw “hefty” salaries from the treasury. Several leading newspapers have also bashed the new allowances in their editorials, while a prominent civil society leader, Gladwell Otieno, has described them as “an act of greed” by Kenya’s political class. Both Odinga and Musyoka both ran against President Mwai Kibaki in the 2007 presidential election, but all three leaders now serve in a unity government formed to end ethnic skirmishes that killed thousands after Odinga disputed Kibaki’s controversial win. Last year, First lady Lucy Kibaki’s monthly salary was raised to nearly $8,000. [PE]