The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on Wednesday handed to President Uhuru Kenyatta a report with a new salary structure for public servants.
Salaries and allowances for Members of the County Assembly (MCAs), Members of Parliament (MPs), senators, governors and the president are among those to be affected by SRC’s recommendations.
In the report, five sectors covered included the civil service, where the Commission identified 3,339 jobs and 82 in the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The Commission noted that 1,881 jobs were evaluated in the independent commissions, including the SRC itself.
State Corporations that were evaluated included Kenya Postal Authority (KPA), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), KenGen, National Social Security Fund (NSSF), National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and Kenya Power.
According to the new structure, pay reductions would be based on a job evaluation report that categorised each job based on its value. A majority of the allowances would also be scrapped while others merged.
Speaking to the Standard, SRC chairperson Sarah Serem confirmed the documents handed over to the Head of State included the new pay structure for all public officers in five sectors.
“Yes, the newly-prepared pay structure for civil servants is among the details handed over to the President,” indicated Serem.
President Uhuru, in his State of the Nation Address, stressed that the huge spending on salaries could plunge the country into an economic downfall if care is not taken.
“The public wage bill stands at Sh627 billion equating to half revenue collected by the government and this is because 50 per cent of revenue collected goes to less than 2 per cent of Kenyans in the country.
“I know the silent fear of every politician is ending their career broke and destitute but we must not get rich as politicians at the expense of Kenyans because the ever-increasing salaries and allowances have made those in the lower cadre demand more,” emphasised Uhuru.
The President stressed that it was time for politicians to take the pay-cut and lead by example.
