SRC says Kenya living beyond its means as wage bill shoots up

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) says Kenya is living beyond its means and that the cost of the wage bill is eating into much of the country's revenues beyond the allowed maximum of 35 percent.

SRC Chair Lyn Mengich says the growing appetite and endless hiring by the government risks pushing up the wage bill further, making it difficult to reserve resources for delivery of services and development.

With the required wage bill to revenue ratio way above the recommended 35% target of the PFM Act and Regulations, SRC says the wage bill to ordinary revenue ratio has declined from 54.77% in FY 2020/21 to 40.45% in the current financial year.

The SRC added 937,900 public sector employees account for Ksh.1.035 trillion of the total Ksh.2.2 trillion revenue, and if the current statistics stay constant, the commission says this will shoot up to Ksh.1.428 trillion in the financial year 2028/29.

SRC, despite the grim statistics, projects to lessen the wage bill to revenue ratio in the financial year 2028/29 to 34.58%, but against a tide of unexplained decisions including the employment of 250 Kenyans without due diligence according to the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Nearly eight months since the positions of Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS) were declared unconstitutional, a move to reintroduce them will breach optimum staffing numbers.

"What we are finding today in all levels of government is that we are carrying excess staff establishment. They are way above our wage bill, especially national government and state corporations," said Mengich.

The multi-stakeholder meeting attended by stakeholders comes ahead of the third national wage bill conference in April at the Bomas of Kenya.