Salary review for senior public servants gets backing

By Edwin Cheserek

Kenyans lauded the proposed salary review of State officers to ease the wage burden on taxpayers.

Those interviewed said Government officers have been awarding themselves hefty perks and want the cuts extended to parastatals to reduce the wage bill.

Mr James Mwangi from Eldoret said the proposals should be adopted to reduce the cost of running the expanded national and devolved governments.

“The common man will have to dig deeper into his pockets to accommodate the high number of elected leaders,” he said.

He also warned the changes would be a major setback for legislators who often stage nocturnal sessions to award themselves colossal sums of money.

 Dependency level

Mr Kipkorir Menjo, a director at Kenya Farmers Association said MPs still earn a lot and suggested their salaries be scaled down further.

“MPs are supposed to represent the people but not mint money,” he said. He expressed optimism that other pertinent issues on the proposals would be raised during public sessions.

The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) Uasin Gishu Secretary John Biiy said the Sh500 million saved from the pay cut should go to workers offering essential services.

“In Kenya, people who matter and work the most earn peanuts while those who don’t are heavily rewarded. We want this trend changed,” he said.

Former Eldoret South MP Peris Simam said though legislators have to respect the proposals, other factors need to be considered.

“We have always been forced to support poor families because the dependency rate in our constituencies is very high,” she said.

Ms Simam said MPs would give their views during public meetings as stakeholders.

The commission is an independent institution with the mandate to set and regularly review remuneration and benefits of all State Officers and advice the national and county governments on the same.