SRC shocker for State officers

President to MCAs receive pay cut

By  JOHN NGIRACHU

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission has laid out a new plan that seeks to check the ballooning public wage bill.

In the proposed structure outlined on Monday in Nairobi, State officers will lose some of their fat allowances and take pay cuts at all levels.

The president and his deputy are among officers whose salaries have been slashed in the new structure that will be in effect from September 2017 to 2022.

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WAGE BILL

The plan, according to SRC boss Sarah Serem, is to slash the public wage bill by 35 percent and save Kenya over Sh8 billion a year.

Some of the perks the SRC scrapped are mileage and special responsibility allowances that it said "were prone to abuse".

Instead of mileage allowances, the SRC has created zones for which State officers will get a one-month allowance.

"There were claims of up to Sh2 million per month," Ms Serem said of the abuse of mileage allowance.                

Other perks that were abolished are governors’ and deputy governors’ allowances.

CUTS

MPs will also not be paid a sitting allowance for plenary sessions while House managers, such as the majority and minority leaders and committee chairmen, have lost special responsibility allowances                       

"We should strive towards being a producing country as opposed to being a consuming one," she said. 

Here is a summary of the proposed pay cuts:

  • President: Sh1.4 million from Sh1.65 million
  • Deputy President: 1.2 million from 1. 4 million
  • Cabinet Secretary: Sh924,000 from Sh1.056 million
  • Principal Secretary: Sh765,000 from Sh874,000
  • Governors: Sh924,000 from Sh1.056 million
  • MPs: Sh621,000 from Sh710,000
  • Speakers: Sh1.155 million from Sh1.30 million
  • Deputy Speaker: Sh924,000 from Sh1.006 million
  • Majority and Minority Leaders: Sh765,000 from 1.020 million
  • MCAs: Sh144,000 from Sh165,000

  • County Executives: Sh259,875 from 350,000

The new structure takes effect after the August 8 General Election and State officers whose tenure extends beyond the current term or whose terms won't expire this year will continue earning their current pay.

New office holders or those re-elected will earn the new salaries.                       

The SRC said it carried out its benchmarking within the East African Community, South Africa, India, Canada and the US and considered GDP and revenue.

Ms Serem said Kenyan elected representatives and leaders are still among the best paid in the world, adding that the commission hoped productivity would improve.

Asked whether the assertion that Kenyan MPs are among the best paid is true, she said this was the case and they would remain so despite the reduction in pay.   

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