Clergy want elected leaders to take 40pc pay cut

The Ufungamano Joint Forum for Religious Organisations has asked the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to publish all the terms of service for all elective posts before the next elections. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • They have also proposed a controversial change that MPs and other elected leaders should not be paid pension.
  • Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto publicly accepted a pay cut.

Clergy under the banner of Ufungamano Joint Forum for Religious Organisations have revived the debate on the rising wage bill by asking State officers, including elected leaders, to take a 40 per cent pay cut.

At a press conference at Ufungamano House in Nairobi, the leaders said all salaries and allowances of State officers are normally harmonised by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

The group, initially known as the Ufungamano Initiative, argued that every top government official should take allowances rather than salaries because "it makes them complacent."

They have also proposed a controversial change that MPs and other elected leaders should not be paid pension because they are only working on a five-year contract.

"There is a very urgent need for the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to publish all the terms of service for all elective posts before next elections. This is to warn the aspirants as to what they will be expected to do once they come to office," the group told reporters on Thursday.

“There should be no further negotiations between the SRC and the leaders because it has the authority," they said.

While most top government leaders, including MPs, have in the past agreed the huge wage bill is a burden to the country, the problem has often been on how to reduce it.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto publicly accepted a pay cut.

The clergy suggested that pay cuts will motivate State officers and politicians to offer services and not use their posts to enrich themselves.

"If we start our salary cuts next year with our elected leaders, we will save a lot and that money will be used for development," argued Charles Kariuki, a member of the Ufungamano forum board.

"But we are also calling for harmonisation because there is a huge gap between the highest-paid officers and the lowest," he said.