Public servants took home an additional Sh24.8 billion in salaries between July and March this year, even as the economy struggles to create jobs for millions of Kenyans while those employed in the private sector grapple with stagnated salaries.
Disclosures by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) show that some Sh29.68 billion in salary increments, benefits, and allowances was approved in the period.
Of the total amount approved, Sh4.7 billion went into hiring medical interns under the universal health coverage (UHC) programme and Sh24.8 billion into topping up the salaries and perks of civil servants.
“The total value of SRC advice for quarters one, two, and three of the financial year 2023/2024 amounted to Sh29,681.10 million against total requests of Sh46,550.88 million, representing 63.8 percent of the value of requests received and determined,” the SRC said.
The SRC was yesterday forced to freeze a scheduled increase of the salaries and benefits for State officers, including Cabinet Secretaries, Members of Parliament and county governors, after media reports about the deal triggered public outrage.
The pay increases for the State officers, which were to be effected from July 1, would have exerted pressure on the Treasury to raise at least an extra Sh1.07 billion annually to finance the deal.
The additional amount that the SRC approved in the nine months to March this year was a major boost to public servants, who like other formal workers have seen their payslips take a hit from increased taxation and inflation on prices of key household items. Inflation averaged 7.7 percent last year, as high prices of basic goods and services choked Kenyans.
The extra pay for public servants is, however, a contrast to private sector workers who have been hit by stagnated pay as employers battled increased operation costs, higher taxation, and low revenues.
Real wages, or salaries adjusted for inflation, in the private sector have been on a sustained drop in the past four years, lifting the lid on the workers’ struggles.
Official data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that on average, a worker in the private sector took home Sh57,204 per month last year, compared to Sh58,678 in 2022 and Sh62,796 in 2019.
The SRC has previously backed the salary increments for public servants, saying they are necessary to cushion workers from the rising cost of living.
These will further inflate the public service wage bill amid growing calls to tame its growth and free up funds to finance development projects. The public service wage bill stood at Sh1.1 trillion in the financial year that ended June 2023. The SRC projects that it was to hit Sh1.71 trillion in the financial year that ended last month.
The salary increments highlight the contrasting fortunes of workers in the public sector and their counterparts in the private sector.
Workers in the private sector have for years grappled with stagnated salaries, near stagnant revenues, and increased operations costs for the companies, further dimming the possibility of pay rises.
Salary increments in the public service are likely to endear more job seekers and workers in the private sector to cross over to government jobs, mostly from the middle level.
Increased taxation on workers’ payslips in the form of the housing levy, and higher deductions for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) continue to choke employed Kenyans, highlighting the relief that public servants got through the salary increments.
The salary increment was nearly seven times the Sh4.2 billion in additional pay that the SRC approved in the entire 2022/23 financial year.
Public servants have over the years been agitating for increased pay because they need to be cushioned against the skyrocketing cost of living.
This has been mainly through Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) which must, however, be approved by the SRC.
Between July and March this year, CBAs amounted to an additional Sh2.7 billion in take-homes for the servants.
The SRC also approved rewards and bonuses amounting to Sh802.88 million between July last year and March this year, against Sh1.2 billion worth of requests.
The commission further allowed Sh271.94 million worth of allowances and benefits.
The continued push for higher salaries by public servants in addition to a fresh increase in salaries for top State officials further blights any hope of the country keeping the wage within the legally allowed range.
Under the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 personnel emoluments as a ratio of the total revenue should not exceed 35 percent.
However, salaries, allowances, and benefits in the public service accounted for 37.4 percent between July last year and March this year.
The Treasury has frozen fresh recruitments at the State offices, except for critical roles in a measure aimed at taming the public sector wage bill.
The freeze was first announced a decade ago and has been a key focus area for the Treasury, even as questions arose about the justification for increasing salaries for existing staff while locking out unemployed millions of Kenyans from job opportunities.
