The government has frozen hiring for the next three years in austerity measures to reduce the country’s wage bill.
Government agencies are headed for budget cuts of monumental proportions following Treasury’s tough conditions for approving funding requests presented by ministries and state departments.
Targeted in the cuts are allocations for consumable goods, staff upgrade, ICT equipment and funding for parastatals.
There will be no recruitment of staff in the next three years unless a ministry, state department or agency (MDA) gets the approval of the Treasury.
Yatani, in a circular to all principal secretaries and other accounting officers of the national and county governments, says there will be no costing for recruitment in the 2019-20 budget.
The directive further stops ministries from seeking funds for interns or any planned staff upgrades, meaning government workers may not get a pay rise soon.
Ministries will also be required to get written approval from Treasury confirming availability of funds before putting a salary review request to SRC.
“Allocation for personnel emoluments must be supported by Integrated Personnel Payroll Data (IPPD),” Yatani says in the circular with guidelines for the preparation of the 2020/21 – 2022/23 medium-term budget.
In the dossier, the CS gives the strongest hint that Treasury will no longer fund profitable parastatals.
