Kuria Raises Concerns Over Rising Cost of Paying Govt Employees

Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management (PSD) Moses Kuria held a meeting with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on the rising public wage bill.

Following the talks, Kuria stated that the high rise of public wage against declining revenues had affected development across the country.

“Over the decade, the public wage bill has continued to rise against declining revenues, thus consuming a significant portion of the national budget meant for expansion of public services and economic development agenda,” Kuria stated.

The meeting came ahead of the 3rd National Wage Bill Conference scheduled to run from 15th – 17th April 2024, at the Bomas of Kenya.

According to Kuria, there is need for proper management of salaries and funds paid to public officers.

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“As a key function in public service management, payroll management requires uniform norms and standards across the Public Service to ensure timely, accurate, consistent, and transparent management of employee remuneration.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary State Department for Public Service Amos Gathecha and Ms Mary Maungu.

The SRC was led by Chairperson, Lyn Mengich and Commissioner’s Dr. Mumbua Munyao, Wangui Muchiri, Nelly Ashubwe, Anne Githu, and Dr. Hilary Patroba.

Rising Wage Bill

The conference is expected to provide a platform for key stakeholders to discuss strategies and action plans towards achieving a 35% public service wage bill to revenue in line with the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012, by 2028 through productivity improvement.

Kenya’s wage bill currently stands at 43% of the ordinary revenue ratio.

Different regimes have struggled to tame the ballooning wage bill, with a huge chunk of the country’s revenues being used to pay salaries of state workers.

When he took over, as President, William Ruto said his government would not borrow to finance expenditure.

“Some characters thought I was joking when I told them, ‘Listen we are going to live within our means’. Even if we are going to delay salaries for two, three days, we will so that people begin to internalize that we cannot continue borrowing,” Ruto stated in 2023, months after being sworn in. 

SRC Critical Role

SRC is an independent commission established under Article 230 of the Constitution and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission Act.

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The commission is mandated to Conduct comparative surveys on the labor markets and trends in remuneration. This helps in determining the monetary worth of the jobs of public officers.

It also determines the cycle of salaries and remuneration review upon which Parliament may allocate adequate funds for implementation.