New salaries, perks for elected leaders
The Salary Remuneration Commission (SRC) has revealed new salaries and perks for elected leaders with just ten days to polls.
Following the changes, the next president will receive Sh227,500 in SMA, which will raise his gross salary to Sh1,443,750.
The deputy will receive Sh190,875 in SMA, raising his or her monthly pay to Sh1,227,188.
Cabinet Secretaries will be paid Sh169,600 in SMA, raising their gross salary to Sh924,000.
The same will apply to the Attorney General and Secretary to the Cabinet/Head of Public Service.
Every Principal Secretary will be paid a gross salary of Sh765,188, the same as the Inspector-General of the National Police Service and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service.
The Deputy Inspector General Kenya Police Service will earn Sh621,250 per month, the same as his counterparts who are in charge of the Administration Police Service, the Kenya Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. But not only officers in the national government will benefit.
The changes will also benefit their counterparts in the counties. Among the top beneficiaries are the Speakers of the County Assemblies, who will earn a basic salary of Sh315,315 and a house allowance of Sh80,000.
They will also get commuter allowances and a SMA review of Sh130,210. This will raise their gross pay to Sh525,525.
Members of Parliament got a marginal pay rise in the latest remuneration and benefits for State officers in the executive and legislative arms of government.
In a gazette notice, MPs’ basic monthly pay has however been reduced from Sh532,500 to Sh426,000 with their plenary sitting allowance of Sh5,000 abolished.
Although, they have been awarded Sh150,000 in house allowance, a new benefit adding up to Sh710,000 monthly gross salary, but minus committee sitting allowances and mileage claims and is fixed for the term of office of an MP unless reviewed by SRC.
The gross pay for an MP is the sum of Sh426,000 basic pay, Sh150,000 house allowance and Sh134,000 in salary market adjustment.
Additionally, the commission has abolished the Sh2 million grant for each of the 2,237 Members of County Assembly (MCAs) that it had approved in February 2021.
This means that the MCAS will have to be content with the car loan.
While announcing the new remuneration and benefits, SRC Chairperson Lyn Mengich said wide consultative public and stakeholder engagements were held and warned State officers against awarding themselves benefits not contained in the gazette notice.
The SRC defines salary market adjustment, which applies to the other State officers, as a salary modification that takes into account market positioning, and constitutional and statutory principles on review of remuneration and benefits.
The monthly remunerations will run for the financial years 2022/23 to 2024/25 and take effect on August 9, 2022, the same day the country will be holding elections.
