Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has declined the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) salary increment for Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries.
In a letter to SRC Chairperson Lyn Mengich, on Wednesday, July 3 Kuria directed the commission to degazette the implementation of the new salaries.
“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,” read the letter in part.
CS Kuria urged SRC and other institutions in the public sector to make sacrifices that they expect other Kenyans to make.
He pointed out that the National Wage Bill Conference held in April, advocated reducing the Wage bill to 35 percent.
Read More
“I reiterate my observations during the Conference that it is not sustainable to have 900,000 public servants from both levels of Government consume Sh 1.1trillion 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,” Kuria added.
SRC had proposed Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi to receive a monthly pay of Sh990,000, up from Sh957,000.
The commission increased salaries for other CSs to Sh990,000, up from Sh957,000, while principal secretaries will receive a monthly pay of Sh819,844, up from Sh792,519.
At the same time, SRC increased salaries for Majority and minority leaders of both National Assembly to Sh800,019, up from Sh784,768 while MPs’ and senators’ salaries were raised to Sh739,600, up from Sh725,502.
Speaker Moses Wetang’ula 's monthly salary moved to Sh1,208,362, up from Sh1,185,327, while his Senate counterpart Amason Kingi’s monthly pay was increased to Sh1,208,362.
Meanwhile, President William Ruto has directed the National Treasury to review the SRC gazette notice on the remuneration and benefits for State officers in the Executive of the National Government, the Senate, and the National Assembly in light of the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 and the fiscal constraints expected this financial year.
"The President has emphasized that this is a time, more than ever before, for the Executive and all arms of government to live within their means," State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said.
