Serem locked in pay dispute with county officials

The dispute over salary increments between striking Members of County Assemblies and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission escalated on Monday, threatening to paralyse the running of county government operations.

The commission led by Mrs Sarah Serem on Monday declared it would not increase the salaries of the county ward representatives unless they are subjected to a job re-evaluation.

But the Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) who have been on a go-slow for two months, fought back saying their demands must be met before they can comply with Mrs Serem’s directive. The representatives, who earn between Sh185,000 and Sh217,000 inclusive of allowances are demanding to be paid Sh300,000.

Mrs Serem said decisions on salary increments for state officers “cannot be made in a boardroom” and that the Constitution must be followed to the letter in determining whether the county representatives deserve a pay increase.

“The commission has hired a consultant, the necessary groundwork has been done and what is left is for the MCAs and other members of the county government to avail themselves for the job re-evaluation,” she said.

The stand-off over the pay has paralysed operations in counties across the country as the county representatives frustrate operations to press their demands.

During a press conference at the commission’s offices in Nairobi, Mrs Serem said the decision to carry out a re-evaluation was reached during a meeting with members of the Speakers’ Forum last Wednesday.

She said it is only through such a process that her commission will be able to come up with a pay structure which will be objective, defensible and fair. She warned that if the ward representatives failed to show up for the evaluation, it would mean that they are satisfied with what they are currently earning.

“When you cook food and invite people to eat but they fail to turn up, it means they are not hungry,” said Mrs Serem.

However, County Representatives Forum Secretary General Albert Kochei said no member will turn up for the re-evaluation unless their demands are met.

The Elgeyo-Marakwet Speaker said that during their meeting last week, they had demanded that they be provided with a report on the evaluation which was done before they came into office.

“What we received was an extract of the report,” he said in a telephone interview.

Mr Kochei said county ward representatives “cannot be subjected to any process until we know the contents of the entire original document.”

According to the SRC, the meeting also reached an agreement to approve perks including sitting allowances (Sh3,000 with a maximum of eight sittings per week), transport (Sh20,000), responsibility allowances (maximum Sh32,000) and mobile telephone usage (Sh5,000).

The commission agreed to the perks upon “taking into consideration the constraints county representatives face when carrying out their duties.”

But Mr Kochei said this should not be used to demonise members of county assemblies since they never asked for the allowances.

He added that the representatives were not on a strike because they have been attending committees meetings but were only skipping plenary sessions. However, he said the assemblies “adjourned constitutionally”.

County Assemblies are crucial to the smooth running of operations at the county level, especially since it is their constitutional mandate to approve crucial Bills such as the Finance Bill, which is now being debated in various counties.

The SRC boss said the total public sector wage bill currently stands at 13 per cent of the national budget, whereas the medium to long term target had been set at eight per cent. This is an increase from the 2012/2013 financial year when it stood at 12 per cent.