Kenya’s wage bill at the national government level between the months of October and December 2022 is expected to rise to Ksh131 billion, compared to the Ksh123 billion spent in the same period in 2021, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) warned.
SRC, in a report released on Tuesday, February 28, noted that its projections based on analysis done between October 2022 and December 2022 indicated that Kenya’s spending on salaries, wages and allowances will increase by 6.62 per cent - compared to the same period in the previous year.
According to the Commission, the increase in the wage bill implied that the government would have to spend more on recurrent expenditure - at the expense of development projects and service delivery.
As such, the Commission advised the government to reduce its planned expenditure by Ksh380 million in the first half of the 2022/2023 financial year.
“This implies that the wage bill eats into resources that are meant for development and service provision to the citizenry," the report read in part.
“The expenditure on salaries, allowances and wages in the national government is projected to be Ksh131.87 billion, representing a 6.62 per cent increase, as compared to Ksh123.68 billion in a similar period in the previous financial year.”
In addition, the Commission warned county governments about a possible increase in their expenditure, with projections showing that the increase will surpass the maximum ratio of expenditure to total revenue.
The SRC warnings came at a time the government was in the process of appointing Chief Administrative Secretaries through the Public Service Commission.
Over 200 candidates were shortlisted for interviews by the PSC in a process expected to culminate in the appointment of over 20 CASs - with each entitled to perks and salaries equivalent to some of the high-ranking government officials.
County governments have been on the spot as well with successive reports from the Auditor General showing that most of them struggled with high wage bills at the expense of development and service delivery.
According to a report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu on county governments' budgets, the spending on salaries in 34 counties went above the stipulations of the law which caps spending on salaries by public entities at 35 per cent of revenues.
The report released in February 2022 showed that county governments failed to give explanations on factors hindering them from adhering to the legal threshold on personnel emoluments expenditure.
