The People ­ Wednesday
Date: 12.03.2014
Page 24
Article size: 141 cm2
ColumnCM: 31.33
AVE: 39542.66
Pay cuts a good move, but more needs to be done
Last Friday Kenya pulled a first in
wage bill this week, has warned that
the continent when President
the current wage bill is a time bomb
Uhuru and Deputy President
waiting to explode and is urging public
Uhuru Kenyatta announced
that they will take a 20 per cent pay
officers to accept pay cuts as one of the
measures that the government needs
cut as part of the government austerity
to take to turn the tide.
In my view, the allowances and
public wage bill.Cabinet Secretaries travel costs incurred by public officers
measures to rein in on the ballooning
and Principal Secretaries also accept­ when they make trips abroad are too
ed a 10 per cent pay cut, a move diat extravagant and if the government is
signals that the government is keen on serious about reducing expenditure
rationalisi ng public expenditure. The this is one of the loopholes that need
executive's decision to take pay cuts is to be sealed.
indeed a good move but in the end the
Recently, Devolution and Planning
country needs to do so much more to Cabinet Secretary Ann Waiguru said
tame public expenditure
The government spends around the government is conducting an au­
Sh458 billion in payment of salaries
dit of its staff and revealed the glaring
holes that have allowed unscrupulous
to public officers and the truth is that individuals to steal from public cof­
the amount of money that will be
saved by the executive accepting a pay fers, Ihe rot in the hiring on public
officers is so rife that if the government
cut amounts to a drop in the ocean
compared to this. That is why the gov­
ernment needs to do so much more to
rein in on tile public wage bill.
needs to sort out its public wages it
more than two times on wages.
for them.
must begin by making sure everyone
in it's payroll is indeed doing what
they are paid to do.
At the end of the day, what will re­
No country can expect to meet its
development goals ifil allocated only ally count to Kenyans is if the austerity
Sh200 billion on its development and measure will translate into a better life
Already, the Salaries and Renu­
meration Commission, which held
a conference to discuss the national
Rebecca Mutiso
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya