- Earlier, Ruto wrote to the National Treasury instructing them to review the gazette notice by the SRC increasing the salaries of state officers.
- The President said that all arms of government must live within their means.
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Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has declined to implement pay raises for top government officials.
The CS said it is unsustainable to have 900,000 public servants from both levels of government consume Sh1.1 trillion annually.
He said the amount is equivalent to 47 per cent of national revenues, leaving the rest of 54 million Kenyans with 53 per cent, with debt servicing and development to cater for, among other expenditures.
This is after the Salaries and Remuneration Commission in a Gazette Notice dated August 9, 2023, noted that state officers were scheduled to get salary and benefit increments from July 1.
In a statement on Wednesday, Kuria said he has declined to implement the gazette notice.
"As the Cabinet Secretary responsible for Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management therefore, I decline to implement the gazette notice on increased salaries as applies to the Executive arm of the national government and urge the Commission to degazette the implementation of the new salary structure, in its entirety, across all levels of government," Kuria said.
The CS called on the Salaries and Remuneration Commission and other institutions in the public sector to make sacrifices they expect Kenyans to make.
"I refer to the Resolutions of the Third National Wage Bill Conference held on April 15 to 17 2024 to reduce the wage bill to 35 per cent of revenue as provided in the Public Finance Management Act 2012 and the prevailing austerity measures announced by President William Ruto occasioned by the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024," Kuria stated.
He added that the PFM Act, 2012 provides that Kenya's public wage bill should not exceed 35 per cent of the national budget.
Kuria said that the current trajectory indicates a continual rise in expenditure on salaries, allowances, and benefits for public servants, placing immense strain on our national finances.
"This is not a challenge we can afford to ignore. Reducing the public wage bill requires a multifaceted approach, one that balances fiscal prudence with a commitment to fair compensation for our public servants," the CS said.
"I believed then, just as now, that this is more of a moral and ethical issue than an economic issue."
Earlier, President William Ruto wrote to the National Treasury instructing them to review the gazette notice by the SRC increasing the salaries of state officers.
The President said that all arms of government must live within their means.
"In light of the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 and the fiscal constraints expected this financial year, this is a time, more than ever before, for the Executive and all arms of government to live within their means," he said.
The new gazetted remuneration would see the salaries and benefits for State officers in the Executive of the National Government, the Senate the National Assembly, county governments and independent commissions rise.