President William Ruto on Wednesday set the ball in motion in effort to increase the country's minimum wage, two years since his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta made the raise.
Addressing attendees of the Labour Day Celebrations at Uhuru Gardens, the Head of State directed Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore to convene a council and begin the discussions.
Ruto categorically asked Bore to ensure that the committee arrived at a decision that will see the minimum wage increased by a minimum of 6 per cent.
"I direct our labour CS to convene the committee concerned and have a meeting so that we increase the minimum wage by a minimum 6 per cent and you should tell me how the maths will be done."
"We shall then discuss how the matter will progress forward," Ruto stated.
The council consists of representatives from the Central Organisation of Trade Unions-Kenya (COTU) headed by Francis Atwoli, the Federation of Kenya Employers and the government among others.
The country's bottom-of-the-food chain workers last saw their payslips upgraded in 2022 when President Uhuru Kenyatta increased the minimum wage by 12 per cent.
In 2022, the minimum wage rose from 13,500 Kenyan shillings to Ksh15,120 shillings which stayed constant ever since.
After the deliberations, the lowest-earning Kenyan worker will be expected to pocket a Ksh16,027 monthly salary.
During the celebrations, President William Ruto insisted that the government will not revise upward salaries demanded by intern doctors insisting that the Ksh70,000 remains on offer.
He argued that the government had met 17 of their 19 demands maintaining that the state is unable to meet all their demands.
“We have tabled what the government is ready to do, 17 out of the 19 demands, the rest is not possible because of financial constraints,” Ruto stated.
The Head of State further insisted that his government had worked to provide jobs for Kenyans including 140,000 employees who serve in the affordable housing sector.
