Over 8,000 public servants last year took home less than one-third of their monthly pay, a new report shows, hit by debt commitments and higher statutory deductions.
In the worst of circumstances, some Kitui county staff took home below Sh100 after a month of work, underlining the tough circumstances thousands of employees continue to face, on the back of higher statutory cuts and growing loan burdens.
The Auditor-General’s latest report on county governments for the financial year ending June 2023 shows that a total of 8,444 workers across 28 counties were taking home less than a third of their salaries, which is a contravention of the law.
“Review of IPPD (Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database) payroll data revealed that 97 employees were receiving net salaries that were less than a third of their basic pay, with some getting net salaries of below Sh100,” Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu said on Kitui County.
Ms Gathungu says counties chopping their employees' salaries leaving them with less than a third of their basic pay, contravening the law. “In the circumstances, management was in breach of the law and employees are exposed to the risk of pecuniary embarrassment,” she said on Kitui County.
Section 19 (3) of the Employment Act, 2007, states that; “Without prejudice to any right of recovery of any debt due, and notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, the total amount of all deductions which may be made by an employer from the wages of his employee at any one time shall not exceed two-thirds of such wages or such additional or other amount as may be prescribed by the minister either generally or about a specified employer or employee or class of employers or employees or any trade or industry.”
But thousands of county government workers (representing 6.7 percent of the 28 counties’ workforce) continued to be deducted more than two-thirds of their basic salaries last year. Kiambu County recorded the largest number of employees taking home salaries below a third of their respective basic pay, with 2,250 of its 6,621 workers affected.
This meant that among every three workers of the county, one earned less than a third of their salaries.
Bomet County had 1,388 of its 3,566 workforce (39 percent) earning less than a third of their salaries, while in Meru County, a quarter of its 5,521 workforce also taking home below a third of their salaries.
“Review of the monthly payroll records revealed that 1,370 employees’ salary deductions fell below one-third of the basic salary,” the Auditor-General noted on Meru County.
In counties such as Kilifi and Tana River, Ms Gathungu reported instances of workers being deducted more than two-thirds of their salaries but did not disclose the number of affected employees. This puts the total number of affected counties at 30.
“Various employees had deductions that were more than two-thirds of their basic pay on various months of the period under review,” the report noted on Kilifi County.
