The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has raised concern on the 246 allowances created by public institutions to increase their pay.
At least eight new allowances have been formulated by government institutions which include hotel night out, accommodation on new appointment out of station.
The peculiar allowances included in the new list are prison risk, heavy bonus and toilet cleaning allowances.
In 2019, the government spent Ksh. 322 Billion in allowances which is a huge contrast compared to Ksh. 263.3 Billion paid in 2016.
The SRC Chairperson Lyn Cherop Mengich revealed that the commission is seeking to draft a policy document that will slash some of the hefty allowances.
"The problem with allowances is that every institution defines them differently. They are paid for different reasons. This introduces disparity in pay, contrary to the principle of fair and equitable pay.
"One of the things we would want to do in the third remuneration cycle is to look at pay structures on a total basis," she noted.
The government wage bill in 2019 stood at Ksh. 795 Billion, which is a higher ratio compared to the recurrent expenditure.
According to SRC, the remunerative allowances have increased from 31 in 1999 to 61 in 2014, and now stand at 264.
The wage bill in the public sector includes basic salary, remunerative allowances such as house, transport, hardship and risk allowances.
Facilitative allowances are paid to compensate expenses incurred by officers in the course of their duty such as daily subsistence and medical cover.
The revelations come just days after President Uhuru Kenyatta declined to sign a bill which sought to award retired Members of Parliament Sh100,000 pension every month.
