The Parliament of Kenya. [Photo|Daily Nation]
MPs have criticised reporters for claiming the change of Standing Orders by lawmakers was driven by greed.
On Thursday, a local daily reported the legislators' push for membership in more than one parliamentary committee was meant to boost their pay.
The Daily Nation claimed the MPs changed House rules after the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) reduced their salaries from Sh710,000 to Sh621,000, a month.
The lawmakers defended the move saying each MP can only sit in one committee at a time, and, therefore, belonging to two committees does not mean increased pay.
"Is it that reporters hate us this much that they cannot report objectively about our issues," said Igembe Central MP Iringo Kubai on Wednesday.
His Turkana South counterpart James Lomenen lamented that every move parliamentarians make is equated to monetary value.
"Let reporters do their work objectively, we are not that poor that everything we do is because of money, that is the wrong assumption," Lomenen said, as quoted by Daily Nation.
The MPs will earn Sh5,000 per sitting in each of the two communities.