Saturday, November 2, 2024 – Thousands of employed Kenyans are now taking home reduced salaries as the 2.75% statutory deduction on their gross pay for the Social Health Authority (SHA) took effect on October 28.
Previously, under the National
Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), Kenyans contributed between Ksh500 to Ksh1,700
monthly and between Ksh6,000 and Ksh20,400 annually for the least earning and
highest contributors respectively.
However, under the new health
insurance scheme, a Kenyan earning Ksh20,000 now faces a monthly salary
deduction of Ksh550 while employees earning Ksh50,000 and Ksh70,000 currently
undergo a pay cut of Ksh1,375 and Ksh1,925 respectively.
Meanwhile, Kenyans earning Ksh100,000
and Ksh150,000 will have their pay sliced by Ksh2,750 and Ksh4,125 respectively
every month while employees earning Ksh200,000 and Ksh500,000 now face salary
deductions of Ksh5,500 and Ksh13,750.
Similarly, following the Supreme
Court’s decision to dismiss the Court of Appeal’s pronouncement that declared
the Finance Act 2023 unconstitutional, Kenyans will have to grapple with a
further increase in salary deductions under the National Social Security Fund
(NSSF) and the Housing Levy.
For instance, a Kenyan earning
Ksh50,000 in 2024 takes home Ksh39,092 after statutory deductions including
Ksh2,160 under the NSSF and a deduction in the housing levy set at Ksh750.
An employee earning Ksh200,000
gross pay currently earns Ksh138,000 in 2024 compared to Ksh146,000 in 2022
following President William Ruto’s administration’s introduction of new tax
measures.
A salaried Kenyan earning
Ksh100,000 currently earns Ksh72,000 after statutory deductions compared to
Ksh76,000 in 2022.
It is worth noting that the
decrease in salary earnings excludes other personal deductions.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
