Kenya has been fighting a losing battle to have a public wage bill of less then ten per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
For a few years in President Kibaki’s first term, as GDP growth soared and revenue collection improved, the wage bill ‘shrank’ in proportion even as it rose in actual terms.
Repeated increases in pay awarded to various public sector groups, as well as recruitment drives to bulk up various institutions and departments have also played a part in ballooning the amounts paid out in wages.
Matters are now at their worst as the country rolls out a devolved system of Government. A massive Sh458 billion will be paid out in salaries to public sector workers in the 2012-2013 financial year.
This is more than half of all the money the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will collect in domestic revenue and, according to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), way above international best practice for countries of 35 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa.
With KRA unable to meet and surpass its targets and new revenue streams from, say oil and other minerals some way off, the need for fiscal discipline is clear.
Being able and willing to live within our means will protect the nation from the ills that have befallen other nations after oil discoveries.
We welcome the SRC’s effort to seek public support for a smaller wage bill, and urge taxpayers to offer their views on how to achieve sustainable levels. Reining in elected leaders’ greed is only a start: Let’s get value for money everywhere.
