President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto will receive a pay cut in the latest supplementary budget from the National Treasury.
According to the budget, Uhuru and his Second-in-Command will receive an 11.6 percent pay cut- meaning that both their salaries will drop from Ksh41.2 million to Ksh36.4 million.
The Treasury stipulated that Uhuru's salary will fall from Ksh1.65 million to Ksh1.44 million while his Deputy will get Ksh1.23 million from the initial Ksh1.4 million per month. This represents a 12.72 and 12.14 percent pay-cut respectively.
The documents revealed that the initial pay would be reinstated in the financial year after Kenya elects a new president.
The supplementary budget did not reveal reasons for the pay cut, which has not affected other top state officials.
In 2017, all top government officials received a pay cut- a factor which the Treasury indicated was to curb the wage bill that had reached an all time high.
After President Kenyatta exits office this year, he will get a monthly pension of Ksh42.4 million and the amount will subsequently increase to Ksh42.7 million in 2023 and Ksh47 million in 2024.
Other benefits that he will get as aside from the monthly pensions include 80 percent of current salary, allowances ( for house, fuel entertainment, and utility), furnished officers and bodyguards.
Others include two personal assistants, four secretaries, four messengers, four drivers and four cars which are replaced after every four years.
In the retirement benefits package, former President Mwai Kibaki is the highest earning public servant as he receives an average monthly payment of Ksh2.86 million.
Both the Head of State and his Deputy have been at loggerheads in their second term, which has led to the fallout of the Jubilee government. Kenyatta has accused Ruto of being obsessed with succeeding him at the expense of serving Kenyans who pay dearly for his upkeep.
The discord between the two led to different political factions and a breakaway of leaders seeking to align themselves with the DP.
President Kenyatta has since thrown his weight behind ODM's Raila Odinga to succeed him while Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has been backed by ANC's Musalia Mudavadi and FORD-Kenya's Moses Wetangula under the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.