Ksh.87,000 daily for Uganda trip: How much Kenyan public officers are paid per day for foreign travel

Kenyans online have criticised the Kenya Kwanza administration for living a luxury lifestyle that does not reflect the current state of affairs.

From numerous travels to high-value spending, Kenyans have questioned the doublespeak by politicians calling on the public to live within their means while at the same time boasting an expensive lifestyle. 

A Flourish table

A circular released by the Salaries and Remunerations Commission (SRC) on August 7, 2023, shows that public officers receive a minimum of Ksh.20,000 from foreign travel depending on the country. 

The Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) paid to public officers aims at facilitating them to attend to official assignments away from their duty stations either locally or internationally. The rates are standardised based on an officer's job grade from the lowest (A) to the highest (E). 

High-ranking officers in this case refer to directors, ambassadors, registrars, Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners, and Committee Chairpersons among others. 

Low-ranking officers account for support staff, attendants, and drivers among others. 

Local Travel

The highest-ranking public officer earns an average of Ksh.18,200 when travelling to a city, county headquarters or another town. 

In turn, the lowest-ranked officer earns Ksh.4,200 per diem. 

The daily subsistence allowance, however, does not cover locations that are within a 50-kilometre radius of respective duty stations. 

Foreign Travel

The highest amount a high-ranking public officer can earn as allowance in a single day is Ksh.167,416 if they travel to Singapore. On the same trip, a low-ranking officer gets Ksh.47,243. 

On the other hand, the lowest DSA a high-ranking officer can get is if they travel to Laos - a Southeast Asian Country (Ksh.50,470) and in turn a low-ranking officer gets Ksh.19,749. 

A trip to Dubai will see the officers earn a range of Ksh.49,050 to Ksh.121,851 while those heading to the USA will get from Ksh.50,728 to Ksh.93,453. 

Officers will earn Ksh.119,269 daily to travel to Italy, France (Ksh.102,747), China (Ksh.82,998) and Germany (Ksh.119,011).  

In Africa, public officers are paid Ksh.87,387 daily allowance to travel to Uganda, Ksh.85,580 to Tanzania, Ksh.104,425 to Ethiopia and Ksh.75,899 for Rwanda. 

Kenyans have since called on the government to cut down on public expenditure to reflect the status quo. On Wednesday, President Ruto directed the treasury to review the new salary structure for Cabinet Secretaries, PSs, governors, MCAs and other state officers. The structure was to take effect from July 1, 2024.