Treasury’s supplementary budget estimates presented to Parliament for review show that the combined annual pay — basic salary and allowances — of Mr Kenyatta and Dr Ruto will drop from the current Sh41.2 million to Sh36.4 million for the year to June.
The two top public executives saw their pay, together with that of other top officials, cut in 2017 ahead of that year’s elections to curb the ballooning wage bill.
The cut saw the President’s salary drop to Sh1.44 million a month from Sh1.65 million, while his deputy took home Sh1.23 million from Sh1.4 million.
The Treasury has budgeted for a 11.6 percent pay cut for President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, making it the second reduction in the duo’s salaries during their nine and a half years in office.
Treasury’s supplementary budget estimates presented to Parliament for review show that the combined annual pay — basic salary and allowances — of Mr Kenyatta and Dr Ruto will drop from the current Sh41.2 million to Sh36.4 million for the year to June.
The two top public executives saw their pay, together with that of other top officials, cut in 2017 ahead of that year’s elections to curb the ballooning wage bill.
The cut saw the President’s salary drop to Sh1.44 million a month from Sh1.65 million, while his deputy took home Sh1.23 million from Sh1.4 million.
The Treasury did not give the reasons behind the pay cuts, which saw remuneration to the duo fall to its lowest levels since they romped to power in 2013.
Unlike in 2017, the latest pay cut has not affected other top officials. The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), which advises the government on the wages of public sector officials, said it was not aware of the reduction.
“Treasury best placed to explain the changes,” said an official at the SRC who requested anonymity.
The office of Controller of budget—which approves withdrawal of funds from the State’s main account-- reckoned it would seek the backing of the law from the Treasury over the changes.
“Once the request comes then I will ask the National Treasury for the underlying legislation. I hope that helps,” said Margaret Nyakang’o, the Controller of Budget, in a response to an e-mail request from the Business Daily.
At Sh36.4 million, Mr Kenyatta’s and Mr Ruto’s combined pay is still 28.9 percent less their joint salary of Sh51.2 million for the year to June 2017 when State officers pay cut was announced.
The Treasury documents show the full pay of the President and his deputy will be reinstated in the financial year starting July when Kenya will have a new head of State.
Kenyans are due to go to the polls next August. Mr Kenyatta will not be on the race due to a constitutional term limit of two five-year terms.
But he has thrown his weight behind his former foe, veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who formally announced his fifth presidential bid in December.
Unlike his predecessor Mwai Kibaki, Mr Kenyatta has indicated he will aggressively campaign for Mr Odinga against his Deputy Ruto.
In Mr Odinga’s last three runs for office in 2007, 2013 and 2017, he led his supporters to protest the outcomes in the streets or challenge them in court, saying his victories were stolen.
But he called a truce with Mr Kenyatta in early 2018, effectively sidelining the Deputy President.
Mr Ruto has in recent days been locked in a war of words with his boss over the succession race.
He is expected to run on the ticket of a new party called United Democratic Alliance (UDA) after quitting the ruling Jubilee Party.
The Treasury did not provide a breakdown of the cut Presidency’s pay, making it difficult to tell how Mr Kenyatta and Dr Ruto have been affected individually.
Documents tabled in Parliament show that the Treasury increased the basic pay of the two executives by Sh11.9 million and eliminated the Sh16.4 million for allowances—cutting the combined pay by Sh4.5 million.
The Treasury has been struggling to raise revenues to run the bloated public wage bill that consumes more than half of taxes, impeding spending on development projects.
Civil servants face deep cuts in allowances in the coming months as part of Kenya’s commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to lower the public sector wage bill.
The Treasury informed the IMF the perks will be reviewed ahead of June in the undertaking tied to the Sh261 billion loan agreements that Kenya has inked with the multilateral lender.
The State aims to curb allowances at a maximum of 40 percent of a public worker’s gross pay, shifting from the present unregulated model that lifts the take-home up to 259 percent of the wages.
