Civil Servants’ Salary Reviews Frozen for 2 Years by SRC

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on Thursday, June 17 announced the freezing of annual salary reviews for civil servants for the next two years.

The salary reviews have been stayed for the fiscal years 2021/22 and 2022/23.

The body cited the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic  for the decision, stating that constraints to the budget meant that the move was necessary to stabilize the economy. It maintained that public servants would be salaried within the available budgets.

The last annual salary review had seen various public servants receive salary increases which took effect on July 1, 2020.

The agency, responsible for setting and regulating salaries of public officers, maintained that a concerted effort was required for the country to bounce back from the shocks of the pandemic.

The remuneration cycle is informed by job evaluation, salary survey, streamlining the management of allowances & the public sector wage bill in general.

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The news is sure to impact the financial situation of many civil servants who were banking on the increased salaries in the coming years.

A section of Kenyans criticized the SRC decision to stay the reviews, questioning the prudence of various SRC decisions including the awarding of car grants worth Ksh4.5 billion to Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) in 2020.

The SRC had to fight claims that the car grants were politically motivated to get the MCAs to pass the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) bill.

“The SRC takes cognisance of the similarity of the roles of the legislators at the county and national levels. It should be noted that the category of benefits to the legislators at the county and national levels are similar, with the exception of Transport Facilitation Benefit “Car Grant” that is provided to the legislators at the national level,” the body argued.

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