By Geoffrey Mosoku

Nairobi, Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta Wednesday raised the minimum legal wage by 14 per cent.

The President, however, left the other cadres of payments in the public sector at their current levels.

As he officiated over his first public national celebrations — Labour Day —  Uhuru emphasised performance and productivity, saying they should determine wage compensation.  

He explained his Government, while trying to balance between the cost of living and creating a conducive environment for investment, would implement the increment immediately.

“Taking into account the needs of our lowest paid workers and cost of living while ensuring a conducive environment for investment, my Government has awarded a salary increment of 14 per cent on the minimum wages,” he said.

The raise now means legally the least paid worker should now take home Sh13, 674 up from Sh11, 995 paid previously, per month.

“I wish to emphasise that no economy can sustain high wages and salaries if it does not address the issues of productivity and national competitiveness. Currently, our national productivity and competitiveness are low by international standards,’’ the President went on.

He added: “To address this challenge, my Government will implement a national productivity strategy to enhance and progressively measure our productivity and global competitiveness.”

The President further announced the government was developing a Wages and Income Policy; that would address the question of wages in the country in line with the Constitution.

The policy will also support an alternative dispute resolution mechanism to address industrial disputes outside the Industrial Court.

During the national fete at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, civil society activists heckled Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary General Francis Atwoli, causing a brief distraction of the events.

The activists interrupted his speech when they began chanting msaliti (betrayer) in an apparent reference to Atwoli’s controversial support for reinstatement of MPs slashed salaries. Photojournalist Boniface Mwangi was immediately whisked away by plain clothe police even as Atwoli went on undeterred saying  “his army” had taken care of the situation.

Industrial action

Although, Uhuru acknowledged the rights of workers to stage industrial action, he warned that such disputes end up becoming costly not only to workers and employers but also the country by scaring away local and international investors.

“The Alternative dispute resolution mechanism will supplement the current system involving the Ministry of Labour and Industrial Court, which is congested; leading to delays and increased costs in settlement of labour disputes,” said Uhuru.

Uhuru told workers on International Labour Day that the increment was one of the measures the Jubilee Government wants to put in place to address poverty, unemployment and cost of living.

Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto however said that, salary increment alone would not cushion workers from the high cost of living.

The two leaders said the Jubilee government is seeking to expand the country’s economy by double digits while explaining that their biggest priority for now was addressing the high cost of living.

The Deputy President regretted that the majority of Kenyans were using up to 40 per cent of their budgets on food but said this can be addressed if the prices of foodstuffs were reduced through production of sufficient food.

“We need new engagement with Kenya workers by way of ensuring lowering of the cost of living through production of sufficient food and expansion of irrigation, provision of subsided farm inputs such as fertiliser and seed to stimulate economic growth by 10 per cent,” Ruto added.

Budget proposals

The President announced that in their budget proposals submitted to Parliament on Tuesday, the State had taken deliberate and decisive strategies to significantly reduce the cost of basic commodities such as food and medicine.

President Kenyatta announced his government would implement the National Employment Policy that was approved last year in a bid to address underemployment, which stands at 21 per cent with overall unemployment being at 40 per cent.  Seventy per cent of this category are the youths.

“Clearly, unemployment and poverty today remain the greatest challenges facing our country. The creation of productive, decent and sustainable employment opportunities, will therefore, be central policy priority for my Government,” Uhuru said.

He said through the policy, all major investments and projects in the country shall be subjected to employment creation analysis to determine their employment creation potential before they are implemented.

Uhuru urged Parliament to move with speed to expedite the National Employment Policy into a session paper while directing all State departments to conduct an analysis to determine the number of jobs they can create for youths.