CS Moses Kuria Refuses To Increase PSs, CSs Salaries, Issues Directive To SRC

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 in the letter seen by Viral Tea, 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.

SRC chairperson Lyn Mengich. /FILE

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. 

"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.

Meanwhile, President William Ruto has directed the National Treasury to review the Gazette Notice dated August 9, 2023, from the SRC regarding the remuneration & 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 emphasised that this is a time, more than ever before, for the Executive & all arms of government to live within their means," State House spokesperson Hussein Mohammed stated on X.

As detailed in the Gazette Notice published by SRC in August 2023, the increments were reported to have taken effect on July 1. Per the new rates, speakers of both houses in Parliament were to get an increase from Ksh1,185,327 to Ksh1,208,362.

Furthermore, their deputies would get a pay rise from Ksh948,261 to Ksh966,690 while Majority Leaders would see a Ksh15,251 increase. The leaders who include Kimani Ichung'wah, Opiyo Wandayi, Senator Aaron Cheruiyot and Stewart Madzayo were set to earn Ksh800,019 from Ksh784,768. 

New salaries for MPs and Senators were to be Ksh739,600 from the past Ksh725,502.

In the executive, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Cabinet Secretaries and the Attorney General got a salary raise of Ksh33,000, with the officers taking home Ksh990,000 from Ksh957,000 last month.

However, only President William Ruto and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua were revealed to have their salaries retained. Ruto will continue earning Ksh1,443,750 as Gachagua continues to earn Ksh1,227,188.