CS Kuria Proposes Radical Surgery of Public Service to Check Bloated Wage Bill 

The Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management, Moses Kuria Friday disclosed that the Ministry will undertake a radical and comprehensive surgical reform of the public service to check the bloated wage bill. 

Kuria said the Ministry is working on an initiative that will see it take full responsibility for negotiating all collective bargaining agreements in the public sector to bring a semblance of order.

“I am going to crack the whip. My Ministry is going to be responsible for negotiating all CBAs because we are the human resource experts of the government of the republic of Kenya,” Kuria said.

“The Head of Public service and my Ministry are going to undertake a very serious radical and surgical reform of the public service. The initiative is going to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.”

Kuria said that the government plans to scrap professional-driven CBAs to ensure equity in salaries and other remunerations.

He made the remarks during the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) media briefing today at the Nairobi Safari Club, ahead of the 3rd National Wage Bill Conference to be held at the Bomas of Kenya next week, April 15-17 2024.

Kuria said that the high wage bill is robbing Kenyans’ of their hard-earned money, noting that they work for almost one million public servants.

“This is not a theoretical discussion, it is a question of morality, ethics, and fairness,” said Kuria.

Kuria saluted the National Treasury for instituting monetary policies that have seen a reduction in inflation, a bullish shilling and increase in foreign currency reserves to cover four months.

“On monetary performance, the Governor of the CBK is doing an amazing job, our exchange rate is ok, and inflation is under control. The forex cover is improving, and just by deliberate policy from this administration,” Kuria noted.

“By strengthening of the shilling on our debt’s obligation within the last one month, we have shaved off Ksh.1.5 trillion in debt simply on the back on an improved currency. Unfortunately, the gains on monetary front is washed away by our fiscal management.”

Kuria observed that the money allocated for development purposes is acquired through borrowing, which comes with exorbitant interest rates.

“We borrow to invest because all our development budget is fully funded by borrowing,” he said.

At the 10th Ordinary Session of the National and County Governments Coordinating Summit held at State House, Nairobi, on 18 December 2023, under the Chairmanship of H.E President Dr. William Ruto, the national government committed to reduce its wage bill to 35% of revenue in line with PFM Act 2012, by 2028 and urged the county governments to align.

SRC Chairperson Lyn Mengich said that currently, 47.3 per cent of revenue is allocated to the wage bill, with over 60 per cent directed towards debt repayment.

“We live in a resource-scarce nation. An expenditure on the public wage bill, government operations and maintenance, development and our international commitments – all compete for limited resources that we generate as revenue in our country,” she said.

Also present at the media briefing was a team from the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) led by the Chief Executive Officer, Hon. Dr. Kipkurui Chepkwony and senior officials from the Public Service Commission.