What austerity? Taxpayers bear burden of hefty perks

Allowances, promotions, overstaffing and loss-making State corporations continue to dent taxpayers’ pockets as the public wage bill soars every financial year, a new report by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) shows.

PAYROLL MISMATCH

The report details several weaknesses in management of records and payment databases that could bring into question some salaries and allowances paid to many public officials since 2013.

SRC focused on 32 county governments and 72 State firms for the report, which it says is a step towards making the public wage bill manageable.

For instance, all 47 devolved units have implemented pay structures set by the SRC, but there is a mismatch between the counties’ payroll and government human resource databases.

Of the counties surveyed, Kakamega had the highest surge in wages, having paid out Sh12.3 billion in the 2017-2018 financial year in salaries and allowances.

Among the few devolved units that have managed to lower their wage bills, Machakos and Kitui counties stand out. Kitui nearly halved its spending from Sh9 billion in the year ending 2016 to Sh4.6 billion in 2017.

Machakos reduced its spending to Sh5.6 billion from Sh9.4 billion in the same period.

Aside from pointing out internal weaknesses in remuneration of public officials, the report reveals how much Kenyans are paying individuals in some positions.

The number of public officials shot from 10,707 in 2013 to 77,567 in 2017. This saw the wage bill shoot from Sh1.8 billion to Sh33.9 billion in the same period for the 32 county governments surveyed by the SRC.

COUNTY ADVISORS

At the county level, advisers have racked up Sh823 million in salaries alone since 2013.

Their positions were introduced on the advice of the defunct Transitional Authority to enable a smooth transition to the then new devolved system of government.

Kenyans parted with Sh182 million in the 2017-2018 financial year in salaries for county government advisers, more than six times the amount paid out in 2013 for similar services.

Unaffordable, unsustainable

While the positions are perfectly legal, the little improvement in services at the county level raises many questions as regards value for money.

Public policy and economy analyst Robert Shaw says only an improvement in services can justify a high wage bill.

“Devolution resulted in more personnel at the county level but the explosion in public service numbers and the relevant wage bills are not only ridiculously high but they are unaffordable and unsustainable.

“Of course some county governments are more efficient and productive than others but all the same, the trends are very worrying. Overall, it shows that attempts at public sector reforms have largely failed,” says Mr Shaw.

While it has not been a secret for some years now, the SRC report shows that some commercial State corporations are unable to foot staff salaries.

NO VALUE

Auditor-General Edward Ouko has in his past reports revealed that at least 36 State corporations are bankrupt — they owe over Sh118 billion and have assets valued at less than their debt.

“It is clear that serious surgery must take place sooner rather than later at cutting these loss-makers down to size or dissolving them as and where necessary.

Bottomless pit parastatals

“The government literally cannot continue to pour money into bottomless pit parastatals which give little or no value to the country, the economy and to the population. The old government-owned sugar companies are a good example,” adds Mr Shaw.

On average, each State official at the county level (governors, their deputies, and the 10 county executives) earned Sh183,000 per month between 2013 and 2017.

Training has also seen taxpayers part with more money.

Kitui led the pack among county executives in the year ending 2017, having spent Sh102 million to train its 12 personnel.

Among county assemblies in the same period, Nandi led the way with Sh138 million.

Of the commercial State corporations surveyed, Kenya Power was the highest spender in 2017 at Sh336 million.

In the service corporations in the same period, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority topped spending at Sh181 million.