Civil servants yet to get July salaries

PHOTO | JACOB OWITI Kisumu County workers take part in a headcount on August 6, 2013. Many civil servants are yet to get their July pay. The government has blamed the late salaries on restructuring of ministries from 44 to 18.

What you need to know:

  • Treasury officials says money was sent to banks on Thursday but workers are yet to see balance reflected in accounts

Civil servants are yet to receive their July salaries almost a week after the government said it had released money to pay them.

The government insists that it has already remitted the money, but civil servants who spoke to the Nation on Tuesday raised their frustrations, saying they were yet to get their pay.

However, government spokesman Muthui Kariuki said the delays were caused by the recompiling of employee data following the reduction of government ministries from 44 to 18.

“There should be no worry. The government is going to pay every civil servant but the delays have been caused by the massive restructuring going on in a number of government departments,” he told the Nation via email on Tuesday.

According to him, ministries like Local Government had been scrapped and the workers had to be transferred to the National Planning ministry while others had been sent to counties. This, he said, had caused delays in processing their pay.

A National Treasury official, who sought anonymity, said although the government released the money on Thursday last week, they (Treasury officials) were also yet to receive their July pay.

“I think this is still being sorted out by banks,” he said.

The civil servants who spoke to the Nation said they would ask their union to recommend what action to take if they do not get paid on Wednesday.

Teachers are also waiting for their pay following a Monday directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta that they be paid their July salaries in full.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) on Tuesday asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to speed up the processing of the salaries.

“We understand that a new payroll has to be developed. Since we have the goodwill of the government we expect all will be well,” said Mr Mudzo Nzili, the union’s acting secretary-general.

Administration Police officers also said they were yet to receive their salaries, although their regular police counterparts have been paid. However, AP spokesman Masoud Mwinyi said the money had been sent to their respective banks.

“Some of the banks have confirmed to us that they have paid the officers,” he said. “In case some of the officers have not received their salaries then the issue would be with the banks.”

Mr Habil Olaka, CEO the Kenya Bankers Association said he was not in a position to comment on the matter.

“I do not have any information on that right now,” he said last evening.

Members of Parliament are also waiting to get their delayed salaries and car grants this week.

A secondary school head who spoke to the Nation on condition of anonymity said teachers in her school were feeling frustrated and their morale was low because of the delay in getting their pay.

“Up to now, we have not been paid. No teacher that I know of has also been paid,” she said.

“The payroll is usually released early after which many teachers in certain banks usually receive their pay even before the bank is paid by the Teachers Service Commission,” she said.

National Treasury secretary Henry Rotich could not be reached for comment. But on Friday last week, the government admitted to problems releasing funds to pay civil servants and suppliers.

Mr Rotich had told the Nation at the time that the delays were caused by technicalities surrounding restructuring of government functions and efforts to bring county governments into the disbursement system.

Under the new dispensation, the Sh210 billion allocated to counties in the Budget has to be disbursed as a separate vote.

The hitch reportedly left over 450,000 civil servants, who are normally paid by the 25th day of every month, waiting for more than a week for their salaries.

Technicalities

“We still had the old payrolls of the 44 ministries in the former government and there were technicalities in trying to harmonise them in line with the new structure of 18 ministries,” Mr Rotich had said.

The most affected ministries were Health, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries — whose functions have been devolved and funds allocated to the counties.

Request by counties for the national government to handle the payroll on their behalf complicated the process.

“The county governments don’t have payrolls now and we are being hit left, right and centre by the people who wanted functions to be devolved.”

He, however, said that the hitches would be resolved over the next six months.

The confusion has since seen doctors and nurses issue strike notices, saying they needed clarity on who between the national and county governments would pay their salaries.