Elected leaders should take 40pc pay cut, clergy say

Clergy under the banner of Ufungamano Joint Forum for Religious Organisations are reviving the debate on rising wage bill by asking the government to ensure "public compensation bill is sustainable."

At a press conference at Ufungamano House in Nairobi, the leaders said all state officers including elected leaders should take a pay cut by at least 40 per cent.

The group, initially known as the Ufungamano Initiative, argue that every top government official should take allowances rather than salaries because "it makes them complacent."

They have also proposed that MPs and other elected leaders should not be paid pension because they are only on a five-year contract.

"There is a very urgent need for the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to state and publicise all the terms of service for all elective posts for the next elections. This is to warn the aspirants as to what they will be expected to do once they come to office,"the group told reporters on Thursday.

"There should be no further negotiations between the SRC and these leaders because the Salaries and Remuneration Commission has the authority."

How to do it

While most top government leaders including MPs have in the past agreed the huge wage bill is dangerous, the problem has often how to do it.

MPs viciously fought an attempt by SRC to cut their perks and while President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto publicly accepted to cut their pay, theirs was only a gesture which was not enforced in law.

The clergy here suggest that if these cuts are enforced, it will motivate them into service and not see the posts as a way to create wealth.

"If we start our salary cuts next year with our elected leaders, that will be a lot of saving and that money will go into development,"
argued Charlese Kariuki, a member of the Ufungamano Forum board.

"But we are also calling for harmonisation because there is a huge gap between highest paid officers and the lowest."