- President William Ruto called on the National Treasury to review the gazette notice detailing the pay increment for public workers starting July 1, 2024
- Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) chairperson Lyn Mengich froze the pay rise following a public uproar
- Mengich-led commission reported that the country’s wage bill increased by over KSh 29 billion as of March 2024
TUKO.co.ke journalist Wycliffe Musalia brings over five years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting, offering deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.
Kenya’s public wage bill has increased by over KSh 29 billion in the financial year 2023/24.
Source: Twitter
Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) was forced to free state officers’ pay rise, which was scheduled to take effect in the fiscal year starting July 1, 2024.
Why SRC froze salary increments for state officers
This followed a public uproar after reports of a gazette notice published in August 2023 detailing pay increases for state officers, including President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua, went viral.
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The salary increment could have seen the government incur an additional KSh 1 billion to pay public workers.
In the period between July 2023 and March 2024, SRC chairperson Lyn Mengich approved KSh 29.7 billion in salary increments and other benefits for civil servants.
“Cumulatively, the total value of SRC advice for quarters one, two, and three of FY 2023/2024 amounted to Ksh 29,681.10 million against total requests of Ksh 46,550.88 million, representing 63.8% of the value of requests received and determined. Compared to the same period in FY 2022/2023,” read the SRC statement in part.
However, the commission projected the public wage bill to decrease in the year that ended June 30, 2024, to 7.19% from 7.58% in the previous year.
Source: TUKO.co.ke