SRC suspends review of public servants salaries

By Peter Ochieng

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on Thursday announced that their will be no salary review for all public officers for the 2024/25 financial year.

The announcement entails some of the measures being taken by President William Ruto's administration, on the backdrop of withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024.

The Lyn Mengich led SRC said salary reviews for public officers has been suspended until further notice.

“The Salaries and Remuneration Commission has deferred the implementation of the salary review for all other public officers in the financial year 2024/2025 until further notice, contingent upon the availability of funding,” reads part of a statement from SRC.

“Further, SRC made this decision in close consultation with the National Treasury, while considering the principles outlined in Article 230(5) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, to ensure fiscal sustainability of the public compensation bill."

As such, the commission directed public institutions with Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) impacted by the deferred implementation of salary review in the financial year 2024/2025, to engage the respective trade unions accordingly.

“SRC will continue to monitor the situation and consider a review subject to availability of funding, as shall be advised accordingly by the National Treasury," added the statement.

On Wednesday, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) announced that it would not be able to honour a CBA signed between the two parties in 2023 following budget cuts.

Speaking when she appeared before the Education Committee in the National Assembly, TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia told MPs that their overall budget has been slashed by Sh10 billion.

“We have written to the Treasury explaining what will be affected by the cuts. We don’t have the money to implement it at the end of the month. The warrant we have is to spend 15% of our budget, which means we are only paying salaries,” Macharia told legislatures.

Teachers were expected to enjoy a basic salary increment of up to 9.5 percent starting from July 1, 2023, following an agreement between the TSC and teachers’ unions.