Top officials brace for pay cuts in new plan

Government officials earning huge allowances should brace themselves for massive cuts in their monthly pay as the salaries commission moves to steer the campaign against the bloated wage bill in the country.

This comes days after President Kenyatta announced that he would take a 20 per cent pay cut together with Deputy President William Ruto to fight the rising wage bill which consumes more than half of the country’s collected revenue.

Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko also announced that he would take a 20 per cent pay cut and urged his fellow legislators to follow suit. “The President has led by example. We should not be too selfish for our country, I will take a pay cut and urge others to follow suit,” Sonko told Nation.

Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) chairperson Sarah Serem said the issue of pay cut would not be a coerced process but a voluntary one.

“People should stop creating panic and sensationalising the whole issue. The President’s positive gesture was a leading by example one, it will be a voluntary move,” she told Nation.

President Kenyatta is this morning scheduled to open a conference organised by the SRC to discuss ways of dealing with the crippling wage bill.

DAY OF DIALOGUE

Dubbed the ‘National Day of Dialogue on the Unsustainable Wage Bill, the conference will be held at the Kenyatta International Conference Convention (KICC).

The organisers say it will be followed by a live debate at the KICC from 5.30pm and will be transmitted on all local TV stations.

According to the latest report by the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis, the highest paid civil servant — mainly Cabinet Secretaries at job group V — earns a basic salary of Sh737,332, while the lowest paid — in Job Group A — earns a basic pay of Sh7,701.

The report reveals that some constitutional office holders could be earning some allowances illegally.

Civil servants earn 16 different allowances, although most of them are enjoyed by top staff, including principal secretaries and directors.

The payments include commuter, housing, medical, transport, entertainment and uniform allowances.

Staff in Job group V, the highest cadre in the Civil Service structure, take home Sh889,912 as allowances, while those in Job group B get Sh16,423 in total allowances.

Some officers are entitled to a Sh99,188 monthly house allowance and Sh107,143 as extraneous allowance. They also enjoy a maximum of Sh469,156 each month for special salary. Besides, they also get entertainment allowance of up to Sh104,000 each month.

According to Ms Serem, the abnormal allowances are part of the reasons why the country is experiencing a bloated wage bill.

Some job groups are entitled to more allowances than others, benefiting the higher and middle job cadres. These are the groups that the salaries commission is targeting in ensuring the wage bill is reduced.

She said government officers purporting to be earning less take home huge amounts of money in allowances. “There is a lot of wastage in the name of allowances. Others are heavily duplicated and that is what we are intending to address after a comprehensive audit on allowances is complete,” she said.

She asked all governors, legislatures and government officials to do a “soul searching and follow the President’s move to have his monthly pay slashed.

“If you are patriotic enough, what will be your sacrifice for the country? If we have to move forward, we should have a sustainable economy, the President’s gesture should be emulated, I am also willing to do so even though I am on a retainer,” she said, dismissing reports that she was on a full time job with a salary.

Mrs Serem said she does not earn a salary like other commissions.

TARGET FAT ALLOWANCES

“I am on a retainer, but even that way, I am willing to sacrifice for the bigger good of our country, I was very happy when the president cut his salary, I was the happiest, he is my hero,” she said.
She said her commission’s intention was to narrow down the gap between the highest earner and the lowest earner. 

Kenya national union of teachers(Knut) said teachers will not accept any form of pay cut whatsoever since they earn peanuts.

Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said focus should be on state officers whose salaries he said had shot up in an immoral manner in the past few years.

“The salaries of state officers has risen catastrophically since 1997, they are the ones who are bloating the wage bill, they should cede their salaries by 50 per cent so that more teachers can be hired,” he said.

He urged the government to equip teachers with good salaries and funds so that they can produce the best manpower that will be used to elevate the economy.

“Teachers earn peanuts, how do you tax a Sh3,000 house allowance? We will not accept any pay cut, we will advocate for better pay for our suffering teachers, but we commend the positive gesture by President Uhuru, those earning fat allowances should be the ones who should be targeted,” he said.

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) also said they will not entertain any pay cut.

COTU secretary general Francis Atwoli said it is even illegal to review one’s pay downwards.
“We remain opposed to any arbitrating reduction of salaries for Civil Servants whose spiral effect will lead to a massive loss in their purchasing power and subject more into the bracket of the working poor.  

Such reduction will be so insignificant to the country’s economic growth supplementary efforts to an extend that its effect will be negligible while its net effect on the workers being so much noticeable.” Mr Atwoli said.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) yesterday also indicated that it will not accept pay cut for its members.

“We would like to register our displeasure with the President’s unilateral reduction of his salary as announced on Friday. The pay-cut, which will also affect cabinet secretaries, is a side-show meant to divert attention from the government’s inability to manage the economy to the satisfaction of all Kenyans,” said KUPPET national chairman Omboko Milemba.

OPTIMISING RESOURCES

The wage bill debate is set to begin launched today by President Uhuru at the KICC.

“We will discuss about utilization of resources, how to be productive in our areas of work and strategies to ensure enough revenue is collected, we have vast resources being wasted, how will they be tapped for the economic good of the country, each one of us should play [part in the debate to get answers,” Mrs Serem said.

The Public Service Commission(PSC) chairperson Maragret Kobia said they were concerned with the rising wage bill in the country and supported salary cuts especially for those in superior job groups.

“PSC supports the participatory debate to find a solution. Salary cut for those in job group U and above is one approach, but we believe there are many ways that will be explored during the wage bill debate,” Prof Kobia said.

Senate majority leader Kithure Kindiki said he will introduce a resolution at the senate to have members agree to have some pay cuts in their salaries.

Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale also said he would reduce his salary by 15 per cent if Parliament fails to approve a Bill that seeks to reduce constitutional commissioners to three members.