Written By Lisa Murimi
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has revealed how Kenya’s public wage bill has been steadily reduced over the past six years.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the SRC credited its advisory on Daily Subsistence Allowances (DSA) and the abolition of several allowances previously enjoyed by public service employees, including Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) and Members of Parliament (MPs), for the savings.
Key allowances eliminated include ministerial allowances for CSs, plenary sitting allowances for MPs and Members of County Assemblies (MCAs), and taxable car allowances for CSs, Principal Secretaries, and judges.
Additional cost-saving measures targeted task forces, retreats, and institutional internal committees.
These moves have contributed to a steady decline in the wage bill, which fell from 51.54% of total ordinary revenue in 2017/2018 to 46.6% in 2022/2023.
SRC projects this figure will drop further to 39.22% in the 2023/2024 financial year.
However, the target of reducing the wage bill to the recommended 35% of national revenue remains a challenge, with an estimated timeline of 2028.
SRC Chairperson Lynn Mengich noted that the public wage bill had reached the trillion-shilling mark, with half allocated to salaries in the education sector.
