The Nyamira County Government reversed the payment of house allowances worth Ksh25 million erroneously paid to an employee whose payslip went viral on Tuesday, April 11.
In a letter dated April 6, the county's Human Resources department wrote to the employee informing her that the payment was reversed.
In the statement, the county explained that the millions the staffer received were way more than the Ksh19,000 she was entitled to.
"It has been noted that you were erroneously paid a house allowance of Ksh25,018,852 instead of Ksh2,700 for the month of March 2023.
"Please note that the excess allowance paid to you erroneously has been deducted from your pay," the letter read in part.
However, the employee was paid her entitled monthly salary and accrued areas and allowances totaling Ksh19,052.
The payslip that was shared widely indicated that the employee aged 31 years received a basic salary of Ksh4,770 and a special salary of Ksh8,404. In addition, he was entitled to a commuter allowance of Ksh4,000 and arrears of Ksh1,500.
However, the erroneously hefty allowance saw the staffer pay pension deductions twice, Ksh572 and Ksh3 million. The government also took Ksh6.6 million in pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) taxes.
The employee based at the Ekerenyo market was also levied Ksh150 department overpayment recovery, bringing the total deductions to Ksh9.6 million.
In total, the employee earned Ksh15.4 million after deductions. However, the multi-million blunder was avoided by the delay in payment of salaries to civil servants by the National Treasury.
On April 11, President William Ruto admitted to a crush crunch which he explained was because of the prioritising on servicing of loans whose due date fell in place with the civil servants' payday.
Azimio called out the state over the delay and pushed for Ruto to instead increase the pay for civil servants to match the drop in the value of the shilling.
