KENYA
Kenyan Public Servants are reeling at the news that most of their 149 allowances will be scrapped in an effort to address a ballooning Government wage bill.
The decision was released by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) as it began implementing pay reviews for the country’s 750,000 public workers.
The SRC said housing, hardship, leave and subsistence allowances had been assessed and would be retained, although subject to constant review.
However, the SRC criticised recipients of the majority of the remaining allowances, saying “greedy individuals” had abused them.
These would be merged, harmonised or scrapped entirely.
Chair of the SRC, Lyn Mengich (pictured) said in many jobs, allowances made up more than half of the gross pay but usually only the basic pay was referred to during workers’ clamour for salary increases.
Chopping such allowances will mean considerably less money in the workers’ pockets, making the move a highly sensitive and emotive matter that is bound to stir bitter reactions.
However, Ms Mengich said the allowances had led to huge pay discrepancies where a worker in one Ministry could be earning nearly twice as much as a colleague at the same level in another Ministry.
“Despite various initiatives taken to rationalise allowances in the Public Service, allowances have continued to increase significantly in terms of numbers and amount relative to salaries,” Ms Mengich said.
Kenya’s public wage bill is currently more than KES700 billion (A$9.7 billion) a year.
Nairobi, 30 March 2019
