A salary reduction bill by Labour Party of Kenya (LPK) leader Ababu Namwamba will put MPs and other public servants on the wrong receiving end if Parliament passes it.
The bill proposes several amendments to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission Act in an effort to slash on the ballooning wage bill.
According to Namwamba's Salaries and Remuneration Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the wage structure of public servants will take an intensive review because it currently stands “grossly imbalanced with unacceptable disparities.”
It also raises the red flag on the fact that of the estimated 680,000 public servants, only a few individuals in senior positions take home huge salaries while the rest have to do with fringe payments.
“The review and balancing of the public wage structure will have a far-reaching domino effect that will include enhanced fiscal discipline in public spending, lower inflation, strengthening of the shilling, drop in cost of living and general improved well-being of Kenyans,” reads part of the document.
The LPK leader also proposes that Section 11 of the SRC Act be amended to reduce and maintain the wage ratio to 30:1, down from 98:1 which is the current bracket between the highest and lowest paid public officers.
Namwamba says that a new public wage policy and system should be based on working hours, academic qualifications and individual employee performance.
“I have been pushing these proposals from last year to have a solution to the public wage bill. It proposes to abolish sitting allowances for any state or public officer who earns a salary,” he said as quoted by the Star.
If the bill comes to pass, MPs and other highly paid public servants will be the biggest losers while the cost of living for the poor will go down courtesy of a lowered wage bill that will translate to lower rates of taxation.