By Roy Hezron
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has frozen salary reviews for all civil servants and teachers owing to the economic slowdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Addressing the media on June 17, 2021 in Nairobi, SRC boss Lyn Mengich said there will be no salary increments for the public servants for the next two years to allow the government stabilizes the economy.
“Cognisant of the government’s financial constraints, the current wage bill ratios, the need to release resources for investment in the strategic priorities of the government to jumpstart the Covid-19-ravaged economy; there will be no review of the basic salary structures, allowances and benefits paid in the public sector in the financial year 2021/2022-2022/23,” said Mengich in the press release.
SRC boss who was addressing the media on the Outcome of the Third Public Sector Remuneration and Benefits Review Cycle 2021/22-2024/25 maintained that no additional funding will be provided for implementation of the job evaluation results in the next two financial years.
“Public sector institutions may implement job evaluation results, by placing jobs in their rightful job evaluation grading, within the existing salary structures and approved budgets, subject to confirmation to SRC that the funding is provided for in the current budget,” said SRC.
The commission says it will review the situation after two fiscal years, and based on the status of the economy, it will guide on the way forward for the remaining period of the third remuneration and benefits review cycle.
However, the SRC communiqué was not received very well by the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) who criticized the Commission on the move, adding that some cadre of civil servants have already been accorded the increment.
“The commission is purporting to block all salary reviews when as a matter of fact some cadres in the civil service have been accorded salary and allowance increments in the current financial year,” said Akelo Misori, the union Secretary General in one of their official social media wall.
Misori maintained that teachers expect nothing short of a salary increment, and the SRC statement will not distract them from raising their demands, and that they will give full update on the matter after the next meeting of the national executive scheduled next week.
“We have activated our organs to re-engage the Teachers Service Commission ahead of the expiry of the current CBA and consider all the options available to us in the coming weeks and months,” added Misori.
In the national budget for the next financial year, TSC was allocated over Sh281.7 billion, taking the lion’s share of the total budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Education.
The commission was granted another Sh2.5 billion for recruitment of teachers but the money meant to cater for the new CBA was not factored in.
The new CBA seeks to recognize the teacher’s leadership and technical role in the realisation of the CBC within and outside the classroom, which had been ignored in the evaluation tool previously used by SRC in crafting teachers’ job descriptions.
SRC had issued a statement early this month indicating that they were still going on with the CBA negotiation process and that the commission was looking into submissions made by the TSC regarding teachers’ proposals on salary review, and pledged to communicate before the end of June.
