Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has increased the salaries for Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries, contrary to a promise made by President William Ruto, who had shot down a similar proposal.
Lyn Mengich, SRC chairperson, in a press briefing held on Wednesday, August 9, announced that the Executive would receive an allocation of Ksh126 million in the 2023/24 financial year, which represents 0.6 per cent of the Ksh21.7 billion allocated for increments.
Mengich, however, confirmed that the salaries for President Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua would remain intact.
Currently, a Cabinet Secretary earns a gross monthly salary of Ksh924,000, a house allowance of Ksh200,000 and a market adjustment of Ksh169,600.
On the other hand, a Principal Secretary earns a monthly salary of Ksh765,188, a house allowance of Ksh150,000 and a salary market adjustment of Ksh156,075.
In the new changes, all civil servants will receive a salary increment of seven (7) per cent and (10) ten per cent, with the amount backdated to July 1, 2023.
Those expected to receive the raises include teachers, police, the military, nurses and doctors.
Despite the increments, Mengich once again recommended the revocation of four allowances entitled to civil servants. Some of them were retreat allowance, sitting allowance for members of the institutional internal committee, taskforce allowance, and daily subsistence allowance.
In line with the raises for CSs and PSs, Ruto had insisted that his administration would not prioritise the salary increment for state officers but focus on reducing the gap between low and high-income earners.
At the time, the SRC's proposal sought to add President's salary from Ksh1.43 million to Ksh1.65 million while that of the deputy was to increase from Ksh1.2 million to Ksh1.4 million.
"It is not possible that the people at the top earn 100 times more than the people at the bottom. It is not right because we live in the same country, buy the same food, go to the same shop," Ruto stated in June 2023 while launching digital government services at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
"I have told SRC that there is an international compression formula until they come back to me; the salaries will have to wait," he added.
The new proposal sparked an uproar from the opposition, the Azimio party, which accused Kenya Kwanza of harbouring selfish interests. The opposition leaders lamented that the increments will affect an already bloated wage bill.
However, on Wednesday, August 9, SRC chair, Lyn Mengich, explained that the wage bill was growing slowly as compared to Kenya's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and revenue.
She nonetheless warned that Kenya's wage bill will rise because it is a developing country and will continue hiring civil servants in key sectors of health, education, teaching, and security.
