Salaries & Kenya Pay. Government Accused of Discrimination
According to the Sunday Nation,Some Kenyan Permanent Secretaries earn ten times more than their colleagues. The article also sheds some light on the Salaries paid to Kenya C.E.O heading parastatals i.e Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner Salary is K’sh 1.4M. Also highlighted are the salaries for Central Bank of Kenya employees.
Below is the full article.
The big earners in public service By BENJAMIN MUINDI
Some public servants head-hunted from the private sector earn as much as six times what their counterparts counterparts get.
A government report seen by the Sunday Nation indicates that the salary discrepancies
are highest among permanent secretaries. For instance, Transport PS Cyrus Njiru has a basic salary of Sh1.4 million while his counterparts Lawrence Ntoye of Environment, Kenneth Lusaka of Livestock and James Waweru of Youth Affairs earn Sh213,640.
Other permanent secretaries who earn big salaries are Joseph Kinyua (Finance), Prof Crispus Kiamba (Higher Education), Prof Karega Mutahi (Basic Education) and Mr Titus Ndambuki (Public Service). Others are Ms Nyagoha Angote (Lands) and Mr Tirop Koskey (Housing) and Dr Romano Kiome (Agriculture).
Public Service minister Dalmas Otieno justified the huge pay for the PSs, saying their services are desperately needed. According to the minister, Dr Njiru was “head-hunted from an international firm and he possessed specialised skills in his areas.”
Mr Kinyua, who earns a gross salary of Sh1.4 million was a chief economist at the Central Bank. Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura’s basic salary is given as Sh780,000. As the secretary to the Cabinet, he is entitled to another salary.
According to documents seen by the Sunday Nation, Prof Kiamba earns a basic salary of Sh423,280 and other allowances totalling Sh250,600 every month. Ms Angote has a basic salary of Sh427,990 and allowances of Sh278,600 while Mr Koskey earns Sh423,280 and
Sh250,600 in allowances. Basic salary
Dr Kiome takes home a basic salary of Sh423,280 and allowances totalling Sh250,600. Prof Mutahi’s basic salary is Sh359,080 and allowances Sh250,600 while Mr Ndambuki earns Sh329,980 in salary and Sh295,600 in allowances.
Members of Parliament and the Union of Kenya Civil Servants have questioned the discrepancy, saying the money was not commensurate with their tasks.
About 4,000 workers have joined the public service from private firms in the past one year, due to improved terms in government.
Led by Naivasha MP John Mututho, the MPs now want the discrepancies resolved and a harmonised pay structure put in place. UKCS secretary-general Tom Ondege is also rooting for a harmonised salary structure.
“It is not logical to pay a public servant ten times more than the other yet they have the same responsibilities,” he said. The minister could not be reached for comment yesterday but a document he tabled in Parliament said the dicrepancies were based on “the scope of the responsibilities, level of accountability and complexities of the job.”
“In this regard, the PSs and their secretaries are in the same salary band, with justifiable differences in salaries and allowances,” he said.
At the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC), immediate former boss Justice Aaron Ringera was taking home Sh2.5 million. Kenya Revenue Authority commissioner-general Michael Waweru bags a gross salary of Sh1.5 million every month while the immediate former managing director of the Kenya Bureau of Standards Dr Kioko Mang’eli earned Sh1.07 million a month.
Salary discrepancies have not been new in the Kenyan public service. In the 1999, President Moi appointed a group of technocrats, christened the Dream Team, ostensibly to transform the public sector and turn the economy around.
The team was headed by Dr Richard Leakey as the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet. Dr Leakey took home Sh2.4 million every month. Mwanghazi Mwachofi, who was the Finance Secretary, took home a similar amount while Prof Shem Migot Adhola, the Agriculture PS, earned Sh2 million. Titus Naikuni, the Transport and Communication PS earned Sh1.5 million, as did Martin Oduor-Otieno, the PS at Treasury. Prof Adhola’s deputy, Dr Wilfred Mwangi, took home Sh1.2 million.
“If we look back and reflect on the Dream Team, the government should learn to utilise the people it has under its wings,” said Mr Ondege. “There is nothing that these people did. They left the economy stagnant.”