Routine salary rise may only be stopped by Parliamentary Bill, not PR and popularity utterances in media
BY THEDISPATCH.DIGITAL REPORTER
This week’s expected increases in salaries for government officials is part of a process that started a while back and has no connection with the government’s announcement of austerity. The raise was also expected by all the officials who have so far appeared to condemn it and no action has been taken to reject it.
Indeed the raise is part of the contract for those officials, who will enjoy annual increases in their salaries over the five year period for which they were elected. The circular that details the pay and increases over the five year period of their contracts was published in 2023 following a review by the SRC, which raised the salaries and allowances for several cadres of the public service and state officers.
Following the shock demonstrations by Kenya’s youth under the Gen Z tag, politicians have been falling over each other criticizing the Salaries and Remuneration Commission for raising the salaries for Stet officers in the midst of the protests and chaos.
Several politicians, among them Babu Owino and Millicent Omanga, have criticised the increases but none of them has taken any action to stop the increases and several more will gladly receive the money when it is sent into their bank accounts.
“This is just PR,” said Mike Mwai, a Nairobi trader. “If the politicians are serious, they should take action in Parliament, pass a Bill to stop any further increases in salaries and allowances for MPs and other State officers until Kenya gets out of this financial quandary that Ruto has but us in. If nt, those are just noises intended for the public’s ears while they privately go to the bans to demand statements reflecting the new salaries.”
Kenya has been taken through the cycle of increases, which are sometimes “rejected” by top politicians but silence takes over when action is demanded.
Our investigations revealed that the SRC makes annual recommendations for increases in salaries and allowances in accordance with pre-negotiated agreements and expectations. For the President, MPs, CSs, Governors, MCs and County Executives, there is in place a plan for increments that will stop a the end of their five years after elections. These increases are announced at the end of the Government’s Financial Year in every June and are effected at the beginning of July, which is the start of the a new Financial Year for the Government.
If the SRC does not make the announcements, it could be sued and its top officers punished for not recommending the increases. On its website, the SRC states that “One of the mandates of the SRC is to set and regularly review the remuneration and benefits of all State officers. The SRC reviews and gazettes remuneration and benefits for State officers every five years, and before electing new state officers.” The officers are then made aware of their expected remuneration though Gazette notices published regularly.
THEDISPATCH.DIGITAL also learnt that despite the criticism in public, the targeted government officials cannot stop the increases by their utterances and the only way to stop them was through a Bill being passed in Parliament. The Bill could be sponsored by the ruling coalition or majority coalition and would have to go through the motions of passage. “Any other way would be illegal and therefore cannot be effected,” an official of the SRC who did not want to be named told THEDISPATCH.DIGITAL. The official revealed that although they understand what the country is going through, they cann0ot stop their actions as they are Constitutionally determined and stopping them would expose them to legal action.
But Senator Aaron Cheruiyot seemed aware of the obligation when he spoke on the floor, saying, “If it means taking a pay cut, we as members of parliament have been told that we will never do it. We don’t have an option, we must do it….The yearly increment that is being discussed, I saw it being reported or misreported that we are now going to earn more; SRC continues to be silent about it. We must make a resolution and say that we reject even that one in light of the financial situation.” Parliament has not come together to reject the increases or put them on hold so, as usual, there will be hypocrisy o n the surface with members making all the right utterances at public fora but privately collecting the cash.