Nairobi - Kenyan parliamentarians have dropped their attempt to triple their end-of-term bonuses after pressure from the public and the country's president, a parliament official said on Wednesday.
Lawmakers in east Africa's biggest economy, already among the best paid in the world, voted in October to triple the bonus they will all receive when their five-year term ends in January to 9.3m shillings ($108,300).
The vote in a finance bill caused protests in the capital Nairobi, coming at a time when the Treasury is adding new taxes to plug a hole in the budget for the 2012/13 fiscal year.
President Mwai Kibaki declined to assent to the bill, sending it back to the house with a request to delete the clause on tripling of bonuses.
"They (legislators) just agreed with what Kibaki said," said a communications officer at parliament.
Kenyans go to the polls on March 4 to pick a new president, legislators and local government representatives.
Political analysts said the tripling of MPs' bonuses, with the accompanying public outrage, would have influenced voters' choices at the ballot
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