Wage bill: Pay cut for 700,000 state officers

Politicians will this morning know what they will earn if they win in the August 8 elections.

On Sunday, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) announced that it was set to release new pay structures that will affect at least 700,000 State officers.

Sarah Serem Chairperson Salaries and Remuneration Commission

The commission, led by Sarah Serem, is expected to announce a pay cut for politicians and State officers.

The cut will affect salaries and allowances for the 2,222 MCAs, 349 MPs, 67 senators, 47 governors and the President among other top earners in public service.

In his final State of the Nation address in March, President Uhuru Kenyatta hinted at the intention to cut the country’s wage bill after receiving an interim report from SRC.

Uhuru said the country could be reaching the ‘point of no return’ as the clamour for higher pay gained momentum in all sectors of the economy.

Currently, the President earns Sh1.75 million while the Deputy President pockets Sh1.4 million.

The Speaker of the National Assembly earns a maximum of Sh1.4 million while the Speaker of the Senate earns Sh1.37 million a month. The Chief Justice take home Sh1.38 million.

The Chief of Defence Forces and Cabinet secretaries earn Sh1.12 million.

Members of Parliament currently earn Sh740,920, the same as senators. Governors have been taking home Sh1.1 million.

The taxpayer is currently shouldering the massive wage bill that stands at Sh627 billion per year, amounting to 50 per cent of the total revenues collected by the Government.

Better pay

Various cadres of Government employees have been pushing for better pay in the recent past, ballooning the already huge wage bill.

The salaries commission yesterday said the structure to be released today was based on a job evaluation report and a study by SRC.

“The new salaries will be anchored on the job evaluation carried out by the commission in 2012,” said SRC in a press statement.

The evaluation report covers five sectors, among them the civil service, where SRC evaluated 3,339 jobs as well as 82 in the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

It has also evaluated 7,856 jobs in State corporations that include the Kenya Postal Authority, Kenya Revenue Authority, KenGen, National Social Security Fund, National Hospital Insurance Fund and Kenya Power.