Ruto directs Treasury to review salary increments for Executive

News

Ruto directs Treasury to review salary increments for Executive

Wednesday 03rd July, 2024 03:35 PM| By Lutta Njomo

Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

President William Ruto has directed the National Treasury to review a gazette notice issued by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) announcing a pay rise for the members of the Executive.

The Executive arm consists of the President, the Deputy President and the Cabinet.

In a statement shared by State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, Ruto also asked the National Treasury led by Cabinet Secretary Njuguna to review the gazetted pay rise for Senators and Members of Parliament.

Members of Parliament during one of their sessions. PHOTO/@NAssemblyKE/X

In his note to the Treasury, the Head of State made it clear that it is critical for all state officers to live within their means.

“President William Ruto has directed the National Treasury to review the Gazette Notice dated August 9, 2023, from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) regarding 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,” Hussein Mohamed’s statement read in part.

“The President has emphasised that this is a time, more than ever before, for the Executive and all arms of government to live within their means,” it added.

Public outrage over salary rise

The statement follows a public outrage on state officers’ pay rise days after President Ruto was forced to send back to Parliament the Finance Bill 2024 due to nationwide protests.

However, several lawmakers had publicly declined to accept the pay rise as gazetted by SRC. Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna led in turning down the payrise noting that he does not need it.

Sifuna was expected to receive Ksh14,000 more.

“The SRC is proposing to add me Ksh14,000 on my salary. I didn’t ask for it. I don’t need it. It’s still money, in a country where many have no income, but for perspective, I pay close to Ksh300,000 in income tax every month.

“I will not fight for Ksh14,000 extra when the whole country is saying we need to lessen taxpayer burden,” Sifuna wrote.

CS Kuria’s letter to SRC

Earlier Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria had written to SRC rejecting the gazetted payrise to the members of the Executive.

Kuria noted that the country fiscal policy does not warrant for a payrise.

Public Service CS Moses Kuria. PHOTO/@HonMoses_Kuria/X.

“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,” Kuria wrote.

“I urge the Salaries and Remuneration Commission and other institutions in the public sector on the need to make sacrifices that we expect other Kenyans to make.”

Kuria argued that he had earlier resolved to reduce the Wage bill to 35 per cent of revenue as provided in the Public Finance Management Act 2012.

Kuria observed that rising the pay will be going against austerity measures announced by President Ruto following the rejection of the Finance Bill 2024.

“I reiterate my observations during the Third National Wage Bill Conference that it is not sustainable to have 900,000 public servants from both levels of Government consume Ksh1.Itrillion annually, which is equivalent to 47 per cent of national revenues, leaving the rest of 54 million Kenyans with 53 per cent, 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.”