Kenya's bloated cabinet to cost its citizens USD13 Million annually

david nganga

January 27, 2018 12:33 PM

Pressure is already mounting on the country's bloated wage bill

President Uhuru Kenyattas new Cabinet will cost Kenyan taxpayers more than one billion annually mounting pressure on the countrys bloated wage bill.

Kenya's Standard newspaper reports that the 22 Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) including a part-time one as well as the new 21 Chief Administrative Secretaries will cost Sh486.4 million ($4.7 million) each year if they earn the same pay.

They'll also earn Sh285.78 million ($2.8 million) in gratuities, pensions and insurance which is 60 per cent of their gross pay - bringing the total cost to over Sh772 million a year.

The CSs earn fixed salaries of Sh924,000 while Principal Secretaries (PSs) earn Sh765,000 ($7,474) as per the new pay structure recommended by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the 38 Permanent secretaries, appointed by the President, will be paid an estimated Sh348.8 million ($3.4 million) a year including Sh209.3 million in gratuities ($2.04 million). This brings the total cost of running the Executive to Sh1.33 billion ($13 million).

Treasury is at the same time trying to cut down spending after warning that recurrent expenditure demands could affect the economy. “Recurrent expenditure is a risk and we are having pressures on the wage bill from unions and if you allow me Chairman Budget from parliament,” Treasury PS Dr Kamau Thugge said during the presentation of the 2018 draft budget.

According to the 2018 Budget Policy Statement by the Treasury, the public sector wage bill has increased by nearly Sh100 billion over the last three years despite the Government’s efforts to tame recurrent expenditure. Treasury expects the wage to hit Sh444 billion by next year.

david nganga