The Deputy President and the Speaker of the National Assembly will earn a maximum of Sh1.4 million while the Chief Justice will take home Sh1.38 million/FILE
The Deputy President and the Speaker of the National Assembly will earn a maximum of Sh1.4 million while the Chief Justice will take home Sh1.38 million, if SRC proposal sails through after public hearing.
Speaking on Tuesday during the unveiling of the new structure Commission chairperson Sarah Serem says the government will save up to Sh500 million in the new salary scale.
Serem said the current wage bill of Sh14 billion was unsustainable and could have led to a collapse of the government functions.
“What we are trying to introduce is relativity and this means that there is an improvement at the lower levels while the top is reduced or maintained at the same level. I think what we need to appreciate as Kenyans is the fact that If you are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), we have moved to the High Dependency Unit (HDU),” she pointed out.
The Chief of Defence Forces and the Cabinet Secretary who replaces ministers shall each be paid Sh1.12 million.
The incoming Speaker of the Senate should earn Sh1.37 million a month, according to the proposals officially launched Tuesday.
Members of Parliament in the 11th Parliament will earn Sh740,920 from the current Sh851,200. The newly created posts of County Senators and Governor will earn Sh740,927 and Sh1.1 million respectively.
Members of the county assembly will earn a maximum of Sh118, 000 they replace councillors in the previous Central Government who were earning Sh30,000.
Serem said allowances will also be reviewed since they are the reason behind the upsurge of the wage bill than salaries.
“It’s a gradual improvement so as also to contain the shock and at the same time manage the relativity and for your information, that is gross salary,” she stated.
Constitutional offices and commissions such as IEBC, CIC, and Transition Authority have also been included in the new pay structure.
Judges of the Supreme Court, Governors, Senators, County wards, Inspector General of Police, Army commanders are also listed in the proposal that is expected to tame the huge wage bill.
She said her commission had made significant progress in addressing the issues of disparity, productivity and harmonization of the public servants’ salary structure.
Starting Monday, the SRC will hold public hearings over the proposed salaries countrywide
However, the hearings will begin on Thursday in Nairobi.
Finance Minister Robinson Githae urged the Commission to also conduct a similar study for the County Government and Parastatals.
He said this figure should come down to about 6.5 percent of the GDP.
Githae said the disparities in salaries of top state officials have been huge and unjustified as there are no legal mechanism that has been set to determine the salaries of these state officers.
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