Salaries and Remuneration Commission in plan to rationalise county staff pay

By Tobias Chanji and Roselyne Obala

Kwale, Kenya: The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has announced plans to begin rationalisation of county government personnel salaries.

This has been necessitated by concerns that some county employees are drawing huge salaries yet their workload is less.

Making the revelation, SRC Chairperson Sarah Serem explained that the planned exercise is aimed at bridging the gap amongst various positions within the devolved units.

“We want to move in to check on the disparities of salaries based on skills and responsibilities,” said Serem.

She explained that the exercise will include job re-evaluation, according to set standards, which will be used to undertake a salary review by benchmarked demands and revenue availability.

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She made the remarks during a plenary discussion at the ongoing devolution conference, dubbed One Year into Devolution: Celebrating Milestones and Confronting the Challenges.

Serem’s revelations come at time when counties are grappling with a huge workforce and ghost workers.

Counties have been criticised for being on a hiring spree, awarding huge salaries to staff.

Skilled personnel

Leaders have argued that there is duplication of roles and therefore governors should only hire skilled personnel, where there is need.

Serem also touched on demands by Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) to be awarded Sh2 million in car grants, saying it is only MPs who are entitled to Sh5 million for the same and increased salaries.

She argued the MCAs’ demands should be reasonable and sustainable with the current economic status.

“If you have a request on one hand, you should have revenue on the other. I have only heard the issue of car grants through the media, you need to do a formal request,” she added.

Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) Chairman Charles Nyachae kicked off the subject by urging Serem to deal with the MCAs’ grievances once and for all, and allow them to embark on representing their people.