Protesters in Kenya have released a dozen pigs outside the parliament building to show their anger at newly elected MP's demanding higher salaries. The animals licked blood spilled by a protester outside the parliamentary gates in the capital, Nairobi, according to reports.
The unusual demonstration, organized by civil society groups, was intended to portray the MP's as greedy. The MP's are demanding a monthly salary of about $10,000. Kenya's Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has recommended that their monthly salaries be pegged at around $6,300.
Kenya's MP's are among the highest paid in the world, and their salaries have often triggered controversy. The average annual salary in Kenya is about $1,700. "We have spilled the blood of the pigs to show that the MPs are greedy like pigs," said Boniface Mwangi, an organizer of the "Occupy Parliament" march. He and other organizers were arrested by police, Reuters news agency reports.
Parliament is made up of 416 MP's - 349 in the National Assembly and 67 in the Senate. The MP's say they deserve a $10,000 salary because they work very hard. They also argue that they spend some of the money on their constituents - sometimes even paying for their school fees, our reporter adds.
MP's in the previous parliament awarded themselves a $107,000 retirement bonus in one of the last sessions before the election. The package also provided them with an armed guard, a diplomatic passport and access to airport VIP lounges.
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