Civil servants in constitutional and independent offices are set to receive salary and gratuity cuts as the government seeks to cut the public wage bill.
According to a new report from the National Assembly Liason Committee, the government expects to effect Ksh75.6 million in cuts. The committee says the decision will see the public wage bill in these offices drop to Ksh4.08 billion.
“Salaries and allowances for constitutional and independent offices are proposed to decrease by Ksh75.6 million, from Ksh4.16 billion to Ksh4.08 billion,” reads part of the report from the committee chaired by Gladys Boss Shollei.
The cuts are set to be effected in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Salaries & Remuneration Commission (SRC), and Public Service Commission (PSC).
However, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) will receive an increase, making it the only body to receive an increase.
According to the report submitted to the House for debate this week, the new IEBC commission will receive a 50 per cent salary and gratuity, while SRC will see a Ksh33.1 million cut in gratuity and a Ksh23 million reduction in allowances.
A gratuity for civil servants is a lump-sum payment made to employees upon retirement or completion of a contract. It is a form of financial benefit given in recognition of service rendered and is usually calculated as a percentage of the employee's basic salary over a specific period.
It is granted to contract employees and is provided at the end of their contract, often amounting to 25 per cent of their total earnings during the contract period.
“The National Police Service Commission increased by Ksh36.8 million in gratuity and Ksh3 million in salaries, while the IEBC has a 50 per cent reduction for the Chairman, deputies, and commissioners,” said the report.
During his exit from IEBC, former IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati and his commissioners collected about Ksh12 million and Ksh10 million for each commissioner, respectively, a figure that is expected to reduce significantly with the new commission.
This is the second cut in these offices. In 2020, SRC announced a slash in the basic pay of workers in independent offices a month after the chopping of the salaries of Members of Parliament, MCAs, and other senior state officers.
In 2023, the SRC announced it would be taking away the retreat, sitting, and non-practice allowances of public servants in a bid by the government to tame the ballooning wage bill that has nearly doubled within six years.
President William Ruto and his government have been pushing for cuts to the public wage bill and have promised to lower it to below 35 per cent. The government has been grappling with a substantial public wage bill, which, as of April 2024, consumed approximately 43 per cent of its revenue.
