Nairobi — The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) will hold its first National Productivity Conference in May, bringing together government officials, academics, and members of the public to address low productivity in the public sector and its impact on fiscal sustainability.
Speaking during a forum with journalists in Naivasha, SRC Chairperson Sammy Chepkwony said productivity remains the central challenge facing Kenya's public service, including the rising wage bill.
"The issue facing Kenya's public sector, including the wage bill, is the problem of productivity," Chepkwony said.
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"If we resolve productivity, we would not be having these conversations about shifting from permanent and pensionable terms to contracts."
Chepkwony cited data from the International Labour Organization showing Kenya's labour productivity stands at about $7,350 per person, far below countries such as Singapore, where it exceeds $112,000.
He said the commission would use the conference to push for greater national attention on the issue, including the possibility of declaring low labour productivity a national crisis.
"During the conference, we are going to see if we can ask the country to declare labour productivity a national disaster so that it can get the attention it deserves," he said.
The three-day conference, scheduled for May 13-15, will serve as a national platform for dialogue among stakeholders on ways to improve efficiency and link public sector performance to revenue generation.
Actionable resolutions
SRC Commissioner Mohamed Abdi Aden, who chairs the commission's productivity committee, said the forum aims to generate actionable resolutions to guide reforms.
"We want it to be a platform where members of the public, government institutions, and the academic fraternity can discuss ways to enhance productivity in the public service to increase revenue," he said.
Aden added that the outcomes of the conference would help the commission develop policy frameworks to support productivity improvements across government institutions.
Participants and presenters from countries with strong productivity records, including the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Ethiopia, are expected to share best practices.
The conference will also recognize public institutions demonstrating strong performance in productivity.
A central theme of the conference will be increasing national revenue, which officials described as "baking a bigger cake" to ease pressure on the public wage bill while maintaining service delivery.
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The initiative forms part of SRC's broader strategy to align public sector pay with affordability, sustainability, and transparency, including efforts to reduce the wage-bill-to-revenue ratio to 35 per cent by 2028.
Officials said outcomes from the conference are expected to inform policy frameworks that will help embed a performance-driven culture across public institutions and support long-term fiscal stability.
