President William Ruto has assured Members of County Assemblies that their salaries will be reviewed to be at par with those of legislators in the National Assembly.
Speaking in Eldoret at the start of the 8th Devolution Conference on Wednesday, Ruto said the government has sort advisory guidance from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on the issue.
"I have requested the SRC to give us a proper advisory on matters of salaries and wages. It is a subject that as a country we must confront," he said.
"So I want to tell my members of county assembly that is a conversation we are going to have and you are going to be treated the same way members of parliament who are serving in the legislature will be treated."
The Head of State pointed out that it was unfair for some public servants to earn disproportionate salaries to other public employees including those handling more demanding assignments.
He said it should be understood that all public servants beginning with the President to a junior office assistant all work for the people of Kenya and should be compensated equally.
"We live in the same country, we take our kids to school, we provide for their upkeep, provide for their food and pay for hospital bills all of us. And therefore pay must reflect the fact that we all serve the same people," he said.
Ruto revealed that the government has come to discover that some people in parastatals and other state institutions have awarded themselves huge salaries and are now earning even more than the president.
"And you ask yourself, 'What is this job this fellow is doing?'" the President posed.
In May, MCAs across all 47 counties threatened to boycott passing their budgets if their demands for higher salaries and plenary allowances were not met.
The ward reps who met in Nairobi on May 3 for their inaugural congress passed 10 resolutions including an upward review of their pay in consideration of the percentages in the National Parliament for equity.
They also prevailed upon the SRC to reinstate their plenary allowances in line with other national and legislative assemblies in the world.
The SRC responded and in June, the commission proposed to the County Assembly Service Boards a Sh10,000 increment in their pay.
The plenary sitting allowance demand was, however, not fulfilled.
MCAs previously earned Sh144,375 a month with a committee sitting allowance of Sh62,400.
But following the SRC proposal, the remuneration shot up to Sh154,481 in the 2023-24 Financial Year. The sitting allowance remained the same.
The monthly pay for the MCAs will, however, go up again in the 2024-25 Financial Year to Sh164,588.