KENYA
The Kenyan Police Service faces mass resignations after the National Police Service Commission reduced the salaries of some officers by as much as half.
Affected officers said their take-home pay for March had been reduced significantly, in some cases by up to KES26,000 (A$330).
The adjustments, which have mainly affected graduate police officers and those disabled in the line of duty, began this month despite a court order directing the Government not to implement them.
The salary notifications of a number of law enforcement officers show that some would earn as low as KES20 (A$0.26) this month while others would get nothing.
One officer, who had a monthly loan repayment taken out of his pay, said he had ended up actually owing KES15,000 (A$190).
“It is not fair for them to reduce our salaries without even giving us notice,” the officer, who did not want to be named, said.
“How can we be expected to settle our bills?”
In the company of many others, he is trying to resign from the force, but has to give three months’ notice during which he will get further into debt.
The Central Organisation of Trade Unions Kenya (COTU) said the reduction in pay went against the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 95 on protection of wages.
Secretary-General of COTU, Francis Atwoli said under the country’s labour laws, a person’s pay could not be reduced without discussions between the worker and their employer.
“This unilateral decision is unfair,” Mr Atwoli said.
Spokesman for the National Police Service, Charles Owino defended the adjustments, saying the officers affected had been paid too much in the first place.
“The Commission acted within the law; officers should earn salaries that are equivalent to their rank,” Mr Owino said.
Nairobi, 19 March 2018
