At least 41 Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) were among thousands of county workers who took home less than a third of their salaries in the year to June 2024, as loans and statutory deductions took a toll on their payslips.
MCAs are tasked with legislation, representation and oversight in the devolved units of government, meaning financial constraints risk impairing their duties, including through influence from the executive and businesspeople.
The MCAs taking home less than a third of their salaries were in Nairobi (15), Makueni (22) and Kakamega (4), reveals an audit that has exposed more cases of government workers being deducted excessive amounts contrary to labour laws.
“The excessive deductions resulted from management allowing the staff to incur loans and other liabilities, whose repayments were deducted by check-off, and which put the officers at the risk of pecuniary embarrassment,” an audit on the Nairobi County Assembly revealed.
The law prohibits employers from deducting more than two-thirds of an employee’s salary in order to preserve the dignity of workers by offering them space to meet basic daily expenses.
However, in the year to June 2024, a total of 1,325 county assembly workers were deducted more than two-thirds of their salaries to cover statutory deductions and pay loans.
Only few of the audits identified the number of MCAs caught up in excess deductions, leaving the full extent of the legislators’ crimped earnings unknown.
“22 MCAs and seven members of staff received a net salary which was less than one-third of their basic salary. This was contrary to Section 19(3) of the Employment Act, 2007, which states that the total amount of deduction of the wages of an employee shall not exceed two-third of such wages,” an audit on Makueni County Assembly noted.
While not providing numbers of MCAs caught up in the problem, Kisumu (288 workers), Narok (177), Busia (131) and Turkana (an average of 261 workers monthly), had the highest numbers of county assembly staff earning less than a third of their salaries due to deductions.
The number of affected employees in Turkana County was particularly high between January and June 2024, rising from 303 to 367 month-on-month.
The Auditor-General is concerned that continued excessive deductions of employees’ salaries risks exposing them to ridicule at a time of economic hardship for many workers.
Over the past two years, the government has increased statutory deductions for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), the Social Health Insurance Fund (Shif) and introduced the Housing Levy, all of which have added to the burden on payslips.
This means that a total of 22,972 county government workers earned below a third of their salaries during the year.
In Kiambu, while the county assembly spent Sh571 million on salaries for workers, a review of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Database (IPPD) revealed that 53 employees were receiving less than one-third of their respective basic salaries.
“This may lead to pecuniary embarrassment and inefficiency in discharging of duties by the affected officers,” the Auditor-General warns.
