Consequently, he urged SRC and other institutions in the public sector on the need to make sacrifices that the government expect other Kenyans to make.
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has written to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) declaring that he will not implement its Gazette Notice on salary increments for public servants.
The CS on Wednesday, July 3 noted that while he recognized that SRC is within its Constitutional mandate to set and regularly review the remuneration and benefits of all State Officers, he made reference to the Resolutions of the Third National Wage Bill Conference held on April 15-17, 2024 to reduce the Wage bill to 35 per cent of revenue as provided in the Public Finance Management Act 2012 and the prevailing austerity measures announced by President William Ruto occasioned by the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024.
“I reiterate my observations during the Conference that it is not sustainable to have 900,000 public servants from both levels of Government consume Ksh1.1 trillion annually, which is equivalent to 47 percent of national revenues, leaving the rest of 54 million Kenyans with 53 percent, with debt servicing and development to cater for, among other expenditure. I believed then, just as now, that this is more of a moral and ethical issue than an economic issue,” he wrote in part.
Kuria cited the PFM Act, 2012 which provides that Kenya’s public Wage bill should not exceed 35 percent of the national budget, adding that the current trajectory indicates a continual rise in expenditure on salaries, allowances, and benefits for public servants, placing immense strain on our national finances.Â
“This is not a challenge we can afford to ignore. Reducing the public wage bill requires a multifaceted approach, one that balances fiscal prudence with a commitment to fair compensation for our public servants.
“As the Cabinet Secretary responsible for Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management therefore, I decline to implement the gazette notice on increased salaries as applies to the Executive arm of National Government and urge the Commission to degazette the implementation of the new salary structure, in its entirety, across all levels of Government,” he added.
Consequently, he urged SRC and other institutions in the public sector on the need to make sacrifices that the government expect other Kenyans to make.
More to follow…