The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has further cut MPs’ salaries from Sh820,000 to Sh532,000, a pay similar to that of senators. The deputy president on the other hand would earn a maximum of Sh1.04 million per month
Further, allowances payable to State officers have been capped at 40 per cent of the gross pay, which means the highest a president can earn is Sh1.68 million.
In early February, SRC had proposed that the Head of State earns a maximum of Sh1.7 million inclusive of all allowances. The figure has, however, been revised downwards based on the results of the job evaluation, best practice, and input by the public who wanted the salaries reduced further.
Consequently, the basic pay for MPs is now Sh319,200 up from Sh200,000, which is now 60 per cent of their gross pay.
The MPs’ gross pay, inclusive of allowances is subject to tax following the gazettement of the new pay structure by the SRC. Unlike in the past when legislators used to set their pay, both Houses no longer have that mandate.
Holders of the newly created positions of Minority Leader and Majority Leader in the House will earn the same as MPs, but they will earn higher responsibility allowances.
Cabinet Secretary, Attorney General, Secretary to the Cabinet and the Chief of Defence Forces will each earn Sh792,000 while governors will earn Sh640,681.
Director of Public Prosecutions, the Commanders of the Kenya Air Force and the Army will earn Sh640,681, while the Principal Secretary, Vice Chief of the Defence Forces, NIS Director General and the Inspector General of Police will earn slightly higher, Sh655,875.
The SRC also released the pay for the Speakers of the National Assembly, Senate, and County Assembly. Speaker of the National Assembly would take home Sh990,000 same with his senate counterpart while County Assembly Speaker earns Sh225,000 per month.
While releasing the final figures, SRC Chairperson Sarah Serem said her team considered a number of factors including prevailing economic conditions. “We have gazetted the final pay structure for State officers. The remuneration was arrived at using the president’s salary as the benchmark for the rest,” Serem said in an interview with The Standard.
She regretted that the current wage bill was unsustainable and had critical economic implications on the country’s budget. She promised the next stage of salary review would focus on the civil servants who are paid less. “We will soon conduct a job evaluation for all jobs in the civil service and teachers, doctors, nurses and others will be evaluated and their job worth determined,” she explained.
source: standard digital
