The Public wage bill has been growing rapidly in the last five years. The amount of funds used in paying public servants has increased from KSh465 billion in 2013 to KSh650 billion as of 2018.
The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury Henry Rotich noted the high level of expenditure on public wages during the budget reading process.
“The Public Sector Wage Bill continues to rise leaving fewer and fewer resources for development,” said Mr. Rotich. The Cabinet Secretary proposed the cleansing of the workers’ register, limiting new hires, and moving the payroll from the manual system to the more efficient IFMIS Human resource module.
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission recently conducted a study on the Public Sector Wage Bill to identify areas where there is wastage or fraud. The study by SRC revealed that the Public Service in Kenya is mainly comprised of an aging population. County Executive committees have the largest number of workers who have attained the retirement age of 60 years. The findings by SRC agree with a report produced by the Capacity Assessment and Review of the Public Service (CARP).
According to the report by SRC, 69.7 per cent of government institutions lack succession plans. Additionally, the study showed that only 47.8 per cent of state corporations implemented the salary structures created from the Job Evaluation report. Nonetheless, County governments full implemented the recommended salary structures.
Following the study, SRC recommends the automation of the payroll system and regular internal and external payroll audits to help bring down the wage bill.
