Since the four-day cabinet retreat headed by President Uhuru
Kenyatta at the Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki, austerity and cutting
government expenditure on salaries has been the hottest air around. The
president and his deputy, William Ruto have led the way; a 20% cut from their
salaries. The cabinet secretaries are in with a 10% chop. The trend is
extending across the civil service. The president warned those in government
offices too unwilling to chop off their fat wallets that they should start
looking for these lavish salaries in other organizations!
Austerity is the word and now the Jubilee government under
the watch of President Uhuru, has decided to cut down the staggering figures
that are used as salaries for our public servants. According to the Sarah
Serem-led Salaries and Remuneration Commission, we use Ksh 500 billion to cater
for our public service wage bill annually! This is a staggering 50% plus of the
total revenue collection by the government. As a result, the development projects
are greatly fizzled out by the mind-boggling wage bill. We simply work to pay
salaries!
But perhaps, this move is akin to just treating the malaria
symptoms instead of the doctor going the whole hog and administering the
painful medication that includes, bitter pills and the painful injections.
Simply call it, choosing the painful way to kill off the malaria! Back to this
serious business of the public wage bill. We have tough decisions to take and
almost unpalatable choices that must be taken. Allowances must be drastically
reduced or chopped off all together and the toughest of them all, political
offices and posts must be trimmed down. A national referendum offers us a way
of reducing these posts and offices. Our county assembly members, women representatives,
members of parliament, senators and governors are simply too many. But, the
naysayers should not accuse me of fighting devolution, no. It is just a means
of making devolution more efficient. We can have lesser county units and
constituencies too, reduce on the expenditure and improve the efficiency of our
devolution.
Perhaps we should scrutinize this; over 300 members of
parliament, 47 women representatives, 47 Governors, 47 Senators, members of our
county assemblies, the county
secretaries, the outrageous spending by some governors to acquire their
official cars and numerous trips abroad apparently to enhance their brains on
this devolution thing. They have their backroom staff too. There is also the
hard truth that we find uneasy to discuss; that there is over-employmentnewsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com nairobinews.co.ke and
duplication of duties, both at the central and county governments. Back to the
central government and a keen eye once more on its expenditure. Entertainment
allowance, house, foreign trips and all manner of allowances are some of the
perks that our cabinet secretaries and parastatal chiefs enjoy. Compare this
with our neighbors Rwanda, whereby ministers are only facilitated to buy their
official cars and the rest including drivers and maintenance is upon them, then
you just realize how wasteful we are with our resources.
It is clear even to the hoi-pollois
in the streets of Nairobi and the villages in the Kenyan countryside that,
public service is all about enjoying the perks and the trappings that come with
it. It is hardly due to the patriotic good-will to serve and improve the Kenyan
society. Perhaps some of the leadership parables
that portray leadership posts as a yam, cake or loaf of bread among others are
all too common in political talk. Most of those eyeing the posts, either
elective of appointment, see them as the perfect opportunity to eat, loot and
get a mansion in Runda or Karen. The paradox of political leadership in Kenya!
Many have warned that this monster of a wage bill is
taking us down the Greece road, if not checked before the day-break! The
president has taken a bold step and the entire nation should rally behind him.
Austerity is no rocket-science and we do not need a commission to sit, eat
unnecessary allowances while deliberating and giving us findings on how to slay
this monster of ballooning salaries in the public service!
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