3,000 state workers go without pay for two months

About 3,000 Government workers are living on the edge after the Treasury failed to disburse funds to their employer. PHOTO:COURTESY

About 3,000 Government workers are living on the edge after the Treasury failed to disburse funds to their employer.

Employees of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) have not received their pay for two months, and through their trade union, have petitioned the ministries of Agriculture and Finance to settle their January salaries.

“We are writing this letter while you are fully aware of Kalro members of staff’s prevailing unrest as a result of the delayed January 2017 salaries that up to date have not been paid to them,” the Secretary General of the Union of National Research Institutes Staff of Kenya, Zachariah Achacha, wrote in a letter to Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich.

National Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge had not responded to our questions on the pay situation by the time of going to press, and calls to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett went unanswered. Speaking to The Standard, Mr Achacha said lack of funds had crippled activities at the institution, as demoralised workers opt to stay home.

The union is now demanding that salaries be paid not later than the 30th or 31st of the month.