Serem team set for pay rise on permanent job bid

Salaries and Remuneration Commission chairperson Sarah Serem. Photo/FILE 

By ALLAN ODHIAMBO, aodhiambo@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• State is pushing to make jobs of some SRC members permanent as it races to trim wage bill.

Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) chairperson Sarah Serem and six other members of the wages team are on course for a pay rise, following renewed push by the government to make their jobs permanent.

 

Majority Leader Aden Duale has published the proposed changes to the SRC Act in the Statute Law Miscellaneous (Amendments) Bill, 2014 that is expected to be tabled in Parliament from today when MPS resume sittings.

This is the second time the government will attempt to hand some SRC members permanent jobs in response to increased workload at the commission as the country looks to trim its wage bill and release more funds to project spending.

“The Bill proposes to provide for full-time membership of the commission by the chairperson and members appointed under Article 230(2)(b) of the Constitution,” Mr Duale said in a memorandum.

If the Bill is passed into law, it could see the salaries of SRC members reviewed to match those of their peers in other commissions. They are currently the least paid constitutional commissioners due to their temporal status.

Charles Nyachae, the chairman of the Constitution Implementation Commission, earns Sh1.24 million per month, nearly four times as Ms Serem who earns Sh330,000, according the estimates provided by Treasury for the financial year to June 2013.

IEBC chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan’s monthly salary was at Sh874,720 while the chair of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission earned Sh808,720.

Attorney-General Githu Muigai in December 2012 tabled a Bill seeking to amend Section 4 (3) of the SRC Act of 2011 to allow the chairperson, Sarah Serem, and seven commissioners to serve on a permanent basis. The Bill, however, lapsed with the life of the 10th Parliament.

The salaries commission has 12 members on its board, but the Bill published by Mr Duale seeks to have Ms Serem and six other commissioners serve full time.

The six are those representing State institutions like the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), the Judicial Service Commission, the Teachers Service Commission, the National Police Service Commission, the Defense Council and the Senate.

The Bill seeks to have those representing trade unions, employers and a joint forum of professional bodies work on a part time basis for a non-renewable term of six years.

The SRC also has three ex-officio slots for nominees by the Treasury secretary, the Attorney-General and the minister in charge of public service.

The new Bill may rekindle fresh debate between some officials of SRC and the representatives of employers and workers.

The Federation of Kenya Employers , the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) and the Federation of Professionals East Africa have previously gone on record saying the proposed amendment would make their representatives irrelevant in decision making.

Half of the commissioners form the quorum for meetings. The SRC is currently shepherding the national dialogue on state wages and working on a number of studies for optimum pay in government.