Kenya’s wage bill to rise above Sh1.1 trillion on salaries review

Total compensation for government employees will rise to Sh1.17 trillion in the current financial year after the latest salary review.

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) gave a Sh21.7 billion pay raise to State officers after public participation in a review that saw MPs as some of the biggest winners.

The review will have the effect of raising the wage bill by two percent, and beyond the Sh1.17 trillion mark in absolute terms.

“This pay review is about the harmonisation of pay to get some sense of equity and fairness in pay. It’s not about just increasing pay. We still had to give a pay review to State Officers but we still factored in feedback. There was a pay review but not at the same rate as proposed previously,” said SRC chairperson Lyn Mengich.

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Cabinet Secretaries will now earn Sh990,000 from Sh924,000 in the first year, alongside the Prime Cabinet Secretary.

The Prime Cabinet Secretary post which is currently held by Musalia Mudavadi will nevertheless enjoy additional perks of Sh150,000 per month as special responsibility allowance.

Similarly, the Cabinet Secretaries of Interior, Treasury and Foreign Affairs will earn Sh100,000 more per month in special responsibility allowances.

It will cost an estimated Sh126.9 million to review the salaries of Executive State Officers upwards over the same period while the review to Parliament State Officers will cost Sh78.8 million.

Broadly, the teaching service will get the lion’s share from the higher remuneration budget at Sh9.5 billion ahead of county governments and uniformed and disciplined forces.

Members of Parliament will claim enhanced mileage allowances following the reinstatement of higher rates by the SRC.

On Wednesday, the SRC gazetted an improved mileage claim of Sh152.60 per kilometre for MPs, a 30.8 percent increase from the previous rate of Sh116.63.

The Commission says the increase represents a restoration of the effective mileage claim rate following the end of a protracted court process that had previously frozen the adjustment to MPs’ salaries and mileage claims.

As a result, the SRC says the adjustment will not have financial implications on the wage bill, noting the fiscal impact of the higher mileage claim had been factored in previous review cycles.

“What we have done is to reinstate what was there before and so there are no additional cost implications,” Ms Mengich said on Wednesday.

The reinstatement is expected to give MPs some cushion against higher fuel prices with the cost of petroleum products having soared to historical highs across recent months.

Claimable mileage allowances to MPS are zoned in two and are claimed based on the actual distance travelled in kilometres from the National Assembly to respective constituencies.

Reimbursable monthly mileage claims are capped at Sh462,887 for MPs travelling to up to 350 kilometres.

Claims beyond the 351km are meanwhile lodged to the maximum of distance travelled to cushion MPs from far-flung constituencies.

Mileage claims to other State officers represented by a deputy speaker and members of the county assembly have been retained at Sh77.35 per kilometre.

MPs are among State officers to post a pay rise in SRC’s recent remuneration review with gross salaries moving from Sh710,000 per month to Sh725,502 with the new structure being backdated to July 1.

From July 2024, MPs are expected to earn gross salaries of Sh739,600.

All other State officers apart from the President and the Deputy President are expected to get improved compensation in the next two fiscal-year cycles in the SRC review.

The average increase of workers in the public service has been tabulated at between seven and 10 percent over the two-year period, inclusive of a three percent automatic lift annually.

Read: Budget controller flags Sh5.7bn salaries paid outside payroll

Civil servants at the national and county governments, the teaching service and public universities qualify for the pay rise.

Workers in State corporations and secretariat staff in commissions and independent offices will however miss out on the salary increases given their already high average salaries.

Pay rises to unionised staff will however not be automatic and will require the renegotiation of collective bargaining agreements.

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