Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua on Tuesday said he was ready to take a pay cut and have the money directed to the development and growing of economy.
He at the same time called on political leaders and senior civil servants to follow suit as the majority of Kenyans were wallowing in poverty amid heavy tax burdens.
” I think we leaders take home too much money which is an affront to Wananchi as the majority of them are stricken in poverty”, Mutua said.
The Maendeleo Chap Chap party leader added that it was ill-timed for MPs to grant themselves a sh 250,000 monthly house allowance yet the majority of Kenyans were barely surviving.
Mutua said the legislators should read the mood of the country and realize that the majority of citizens were leading a Spartan’s life filled with pessimism.
He was speaking outside his office where he was made the patron of the Machakos county scouts council in a colorful ceremony also attended by county minister of tourism Ruth Mutua.
The governor said all public servants want pay increases but the poor state of the economy tinged with massive unemployment could not allow it.
“Once we grow the economy and deal with the unemployment problem, we can then agitate for higher pay in tandem with our economic growth”, he said.