Uhuru, Ruto pay cuts delayed by legal hitch

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto in Kitengela. The President and his Deputy are yet to take a voluntary pay cut because of a legal technicality that only Parliament can resolve. PHOTO | PSCU | FILE

What you need to know:

  • President Kenyatta later directed heads of parastatals to follow suit and take a 20 per cent pay cut to reduce the wage bill. He warned that those who defied the order would be sacked.
  • Ms Serem has said that the public wage bill had shot up from Sh241 billion in 2008/9 to Sh458 billion in 2012/13.
  • In March, President Kenyatta announced that he would take a 20 per cent pay cut to demonstrate his determination to reduce the high wage bill. Mr Ruto also agreed to take a similar pay cut.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, Mr William Ruto, are yet to take a voluntary pay cut because of a legal technicality that only Parliament can resolve.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto had pledged to take a 20 per cent pay cut as part of broader efforts to reduce the public wage bill.

Cabinet secretaries had also pledged to voluntarily reduce their salaries by 10 per cent, taking a cue from the President and Deputy President during a retreat at Mt Kenya Safari Club in March.

President Kenyatta later directed heads of parastatals to follow suit and take a 20 per cent pay cut to reduce the wage bill. He warned that those who defied the order would be sacked.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which pays salaries for judges and magistrates, and the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), which is in charge of the emolument of MPs, were also challenged to follow suit and reduce the salaries of senior civil servants and other public servants.

And on Madaraka Day, the President said the Jubilee government had been engaging in national dialogue over the last five months with reducing the public wage bill being one of the issues discussed.

Wednesday, Public Service Commission (PSC) and Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) officials said they had not reduced the salaries because Parliament was yet to amend the relevant law.

While several Cabinet and Principal secretaries have written to the SRC to have their salaries reduced, this cannot be done until the law is changed.

Ms Serem has said that the public wage bill had shot up from Sh241 billion in 2008/9 to Sh458 billion in 2012/13.

“This is in excess of 50 per cent of the total domestic revenues, which is way above the international best practice of not more than 35 per cent recommended for countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” the commission had said in a statement.

The pay cuts proposed by Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto were meant to reduce the public wage bill by millions of shillings every month and the money was to be channelled to development projects.

Speaking by phone Wednesday, PSC chairperson Margaret Kobia said her team was yet to start deducting 20 per cent from the salaries of President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto because of the legal dilemma.

Prof Kobia also revealed that they were yet to receive the list of top officials who earn high salaries and who would be required to take a pay cut once the system was put in place.

“Payroll instructions touch on terms of service. Once we get a written communication from any individual taking a pay cut we will effect immediately. We are yet to receive any so far.”

As Prof Kobia spoke, the SRC said it was crafting a wage bill strategy to guide the implementation of the salary reductions without going against the provisions of the Constitution.

SRC director of communications Ali Chege said they had been consulting the PSC on how the reductions can be effected without flouting the law. He, however, warned that while it was expected that the reductions would have started a short time after the announcement by the President, the order required a legal backing for them to be effected.

“The cuts can only be done after an amendment to the Constitution is passed so that we don’t set a bad precedent of effecting changes without any legal backing,” he said.

In March, President Kenyatta announced that he would take a 20 per cent pay cut to demonstrate his determination to reduce the high wage bill. Mr Ruto also agreed to take a similar pay cut.

“We want to lead by example in dealing with this monster,” said after leading the Cabinet on a four-day retreat at Mt Kenya Safari Club.

Mr Kenyatta, who earns Sh1.7 million per month, would take home Sh1.35 million while Mr Ruto would earn Sh1.19 million instead of Sh1.49 million. Cabinet secretaries, who earn Sh1.12 million would forfeit Sh112,000 and Principal Secretaries Sh91,000 from their Sh910,000 pay.

President Kenyatta also directed heads of parastatals to also volunteer for pay cuts.

“There are several qualified Kenyans who can serve in such positions at affordable salaries. It is now a reality that you are going to take a 20 per cent pay cut,” he said at a Wage Bill Forum in Nairobi on March 10. “We are ready to face those who will opt to challenge the decision in court, it is even cheaper for us to settle in court than retain you at the current salary.”

SRC chairperson Sarah Serem had raised the red flag over the unsustainable wage bill last year and demanded adequate measures to be taken to stem it. Wednesday, incidentally, she was with President Kenyatta who presented her with an award in recognition of her husband, Maj Gen (rtd) John Serem, now deceased.

Mr Kenyatta and Ms Serem met during the Kenya Air Force golden jubilee celebrations at the Moi Air Base in Eastleigh, Nairobi.