Matiang’i; SRC, PSC, Treasury advised on new police allowances

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi (C) and Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia conversing at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD). [Edward Kiplimo/Standard]

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has defended the housing and commuter allowances for police officers, saying the figures were arrived at after consultations.

Matiang’i said the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), National Treasury and the Public Service (PSC) Commission arrived at the figures before releasing them to the National Police Service (NPS) and Kenya Prisons Service for implementation.

“We were advised by SRC, Treasury and PSC who determined the allowances. They also introduced commuter allowances that were not there before,” said the Cabinet secretary.

Apart from the commuter and house allowances, each of the about 100,000 officers will receive a supplementation allowance to cater for their electricity and water bills, among others.

This came as murmurs within the NPS and the prisons grew over slashed allowances.

Many junior officers, especially in Nairobi, are not happy with the move to slash their house allowances.

An internal memo sent to the officers on December 13 says the monies will be paid starting December 1.

“The applicable allowances at the stated rates include house and commuter allowance as well as housing supplementation which will be paid effective December 1, 2018,” reads the memo.

House allowance

The Government will spend Sh10.9 billion to implement the new commuter and house allowance policy.

And the officers willing to rent house of their choice have up to the end of the year to vacate the free State-leased houses.

The Government has shelved earlier plans to pay some officers house allowance that is equal or more than half of their salaries.

Initially, the Government had planned to pay constables in Nairobi up to Sh18,124 per month, those in Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Meru and Uasin Gishu Sh13,124 and other counties Sh8,124.

Constables and corporals, the lower cadres, will now get Sh9,500, as house allowance for those in Nairobi and Sh3,000 and Sh4,000 as commuter allowances.

Officers in the same rank in Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Nyeri, Eldoret, Thika, Kisii, Malindi, Kitale and Kakamega will earn Sh7,000, while those in other regions will get Sh5,500.

A sergeant in Nairobi will earn Sh9,800 as house allowance, Sh4,00 as commuter allowance, while those in Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Nyeri, Eldoret, Thika, Kisii, Malindi, Kitale and Kakamega will get Sh7,300 and other regions Sh5,700.

A senior sergeant of police in Nairobi is likely to receive a house allowance of Sh15,700, Sh4,000 for commuter allowance, while those in Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Nyeri, Eldoret, Thika, Kisii, Malindi, Kitale and Kakamega will earn Sh11,300 and Sh8,150 in other regions.