At a recent meeting with professional associations in Nairobi, Sarah Serem, chairperson of Kenya’s Salaries and Remuneration Commission, expressed her frustration with the government’s half-hearted approach to managing the ballooning wage bill.

“We have to continue telling Kenyans that we have to live within our means, no matter the decision other institutions take. It is our job to do so or we can as well pack up and go home,” said Ms Serem.

Ms Serem has found herself on the receiving end of harsh criticism and threats for opposing pay increases that have seen the public wage bill rise to unsustainable levels.

Her role has come under sharp scrutiny in the past four weeks in which public school teachers have been on strike, prompting the closure of schools. Teachers are demanding a 50-60 per cent pay increase awarded to them by Employment and Labour Relations Court.

Ms Serem said this would require a similar increase across the civil service, costing the government an extra Ksh118 billion ($1.12 billion) a year.

End of teachers strike

However, the same court on Thursday October 1 ordered teachers to immediately resume work after the Teachers Service Commission successfully challenged the legality of the strike.

The court further urged the teachers’ unions and the government to appoint an independent conciliator to discuss a mechanism for implementing the 50-60 per cent pay increment within 90 days.

READ: GATHARA: Kenya’s war on teachers’ unions: Makhan Singh must be turning in his grave

When Ms Serem protested against the MPs’ move to increase their perks, the legislators threatened to hound her out of office and slash SCR’s budget allocation, given the fact that the Constitution gives parliament powers to alter its budget.

County assembly members even went on a go-slow affecting county operations to force Ms Serem to give way. In both cases, the legislators won. Ms Serem is against the 50-60 per cent pay increase demanded by teachers, warning that other groups will follow suit.

SRC was established under the Constitution to ensure equitable and sustainable remuneration and benefits for state and public officers. However, on numerous occasions, its advice has fallen on deaf ears.

Economists George Kimani and Peter Onyango, who have done a cost-benefit analysis on the Constitution, sympathise with the SRC boss.

“I understand Ms Serem’s frustration,” said Mr Kimani.

“The pay dispute comes at a time when the Commission is undertaking job evaluation, which should be completed before the end of next year. She will have to factor in the 50-60 per cent pay increase if the Court of Appeal upholds the decision earlier made,” he added.

Ms Serem’s contention is that though there have been salary increases in the civil service since 2001, studies had shown that productivity levels have remained at a paltry 30 per cent, adding that time has come for pay to be commensurate with productivity.

Given that the Constitution envisages equity, if teachers win the pay dispute then it means the government will have to raise the salaries of other civil servants of similar qualifications and roles to ensure equity.

“For instance, you wouldn’t want a secondary teacher to be earning more than a lecturer at the university. It means you will have to increase the salary of the lecturer to ensure fairness. The teachers’ pay dispute, if not handled well, may just open a Pandora’s box,” added Mr Kimani.

The irony is that the 50-60 per cent salary increase was proposed by officials representing the government, after teachers demanded a 200-300 per cent pay increase.

“How did the government propose a figure it knew it could not pay? This means sections of government are not working together — the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing,” said Mr Kimani.

According to sources, the 50-60 per cent pay increase was proposed when President Uhuru Kenyatta was abroad on an official visit; and when he came back, the head of state was furious, demanding to know how such a proposal was made without considering the budgetary constraints.

It is against this backdrop that TSC rushed to withdraw the proposal, arguing that SRC had asked it to do so; but it was too late, since it had caught the labour court’s eye.

In its ruling, the Employment and Labour Relations Court  dismissed the TSC’s move, saying the commission could not make an offer during negotiations with the unions and later withdraw it before it had been considered by the teachers’ representatives.

The court went ahead and awarded teachers what the government had earlier proposed. The government finds itself in a tight corner because at the moment, the public wage bill accounts for 52 per cent of Kenya’s budget, whereas the global average for a middle-income country like Kenya is about 35 per cent.

In addition, the public wage bill accounts for more than 10 per cent of the gross domestic product, well above the middle income country average of about 5 per cent.

In fact, the annual growth rate of the wage bill averaged over the past three years is about 13 per cent. In 2012/2013 alone, it recorded a 30 per cent increase, well above the nominal GDP growth of about 14 per cent and population growth rate of about three per cent. Of the Ksh1.1 trillion ($11 billion) collected last year, Ksh568 billion ($5.7 billion) was spent on wages.

According to Mr Onyango, it will be hard for Kenya to achieve the international standards target without undertaking radical measures, that may include amending the Constitution.

“We must swallow the bitter pill and accept the fact that there are flaws in the Constitution and unless we change them, the wage bill will continue rising,” he added.

The economists regret that Kenya failed to do a cost-benefit analysis to clearly understand the real cost of the document they were voting for.

First and foremost, the two economic consultants say, Kenya needs to merge some counties to reduce expenditure and benefit from economies of scale.

“I know this proposal will meet a lot of resistance from politicians, given the nature of our divisive politics, but we must do it if we really want to reduce the wage bill. The eight provinces we had before can act as guide. It can also help in promoting ethnic integration,” added Mr Onyango.

Nigeria, with a population of about 183.5 million, more than double that of Kenya, has fewer states or what are referred locally as counties.  The populous West African country is divided into only 36 states with Abuja designated as the federal capital.

In addition, the two economists maintain that Kenyan public is over represented and there is a need to merge some constituencies and abolish the Senate, adding that the latter’s job can be done by the National Assembly.

“We do not need 418 members to serve a population of 42 million people; we can do with fewer to free up funds for development projects, which can create employment opportunities for our youth,” added Mr Onyango.

Currently, for example, it costs about Ksh2 million per month ($20,000) to maintain a single MP, translating into $8.32 million for the 418 legislators every month. There is also the possibility that the budget may increase further once the two-thirds gender rule, which says not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender, is fully implemented. It means more women MPs will have to be nominated to achieve gender parity in parliament.

The  two economists also propose that MCAs’ jobs be made part time,  adding that paying the 1,000-plus salaries of the members every month using  devolved funds is not proper.

North Dakota, the 39th state of the United States, is a perfect example, where they say elected representatives serve on a temporary basis, and legislative assembly meetings do not exceed 80 days in a biennium.

The economists also propose that it is time to do away or merge some of the constitutional offices to reduce the burden on taxpayers. The two, for example, propose abolishing the office of the Kenyan Ombudsman, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Gender Commission with their duties being transferred to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

“We also need to reduce the number of commissioners who serve in the commission and making their jobs part time,” said Mr Onyango.

Though, the Director General of Vision 2030, Gituro Wainaina, shares the same concerns about the ballooning wage bill, he does not agree the Constitution needs radical changes.

“The Constitution is fine. The problem is that we have been busy concentrating on consumption rather than generating more wealth to meet our expanding needs. Even in your own house you cannot budget for steak every day yet you are aware that the amount of money you make is not enough to meet such demand,” says Prof Wainaina.