The Treasury of Kenya has budgeted for a 11.6% 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.
The two top public executives are set for the lowest salaries they have ever received since they took power in 2013. The Treasury presented its budget estimates to parliament for review. The combined annual pay of the leaders, which includes basic salary and allowances to the duo, will drop from the current U.S.$363,00 to U.S.$320,000 for the year to June.
The Treasury has not given a reason for the new pay cuts, which has not affected other top officials. The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), which advises the government on the wages of public sector officials, revealed that it was not aware of the reduction, adding that the Treasury would better explain the new changes.
After President Kenyatta exits office this year, he will get a monthly pension of over U.S.$373,000 and the amount will subsequently increase to over U.S.$375,000 in 2023 and over U.S.$413,000 in 2024. Other benefits that he will get as aside from the monthly pensions include 80 percent of current salary, allowances ( for house, fuel entertainment, and utility), furnished officers and bodyguards. He will also keep two personal assistants, four secretaries, four messengers, four drivers and four cars which are replaced after every four years, according to Kenyans.co.ke.
Both the head of state and his deputy have been at loggerheads in their second term, which has led to the fallout of the Jubilee government. Kenyatta has accused Ruto of being obsessed with succeeding him at the expense of serving Kenyans who pay dearly for his upkeep. The discord between the two led to different political factions and a breakaway of leaders seeking to align themselves with the DP, Kenyans.co.ke reports.
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Kenyans are due to go to the polls in August, Kenyatta will not be on the race due to a constitutional term limit of two five-year terms. He has since thrown his weight behind his former 'arch enemy' opposition Orange Democratic Movement's Raila Odinga to succeed him while Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has been backed by Amani National Congress's (ANC) Musalia Mudavadi and FORD-Kenya's Moses Wetangula under the Kenya Kwanza Alliance. Odinga formally announced his fifth presidential bid in December 2021.
Civil servants reportedly face deep cuts in allowances in the coming months as part of the government's commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to lower the public sector wage bill. The state aims to curb allowances at a maximum of 40% 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.
