The Cabinet on Tuesday, April 23, approved the revised guidelines on the terms and conditions of service for board members and staff of State Corporations.
According to a dispatch from a cabinet meeting held at State House Nairobi, the revised guidelines will provide salary bands and allowances for CEOs, board members, Vice-Chancellors, Chancellors and members of university councils.
The bands will help the government to create uniformity in the salaries and wages paid to CEOs in state corporations by ensuring that all state corporations adopt standard pay ranges for similar roles.
These guidelines, the Cabinet said, were in line with the recent directives given by President William Ruto on fiscal consolidation and management of State Corporations.
If implemented, the new guidelines will form part of the government strategy to reduce budget deficit which ultimately leads to reliance on borrowing.
“The new policy also aligns the determination of the terms and conditions of service in the agencies with the provisions of the Constitution and the relevant laws,” the dispatch read in part.
Additionally, Cabinet members agreed to have the Salaries and Remunerations Commission and the State Corporations Advisory Committee assume a central role in determining the terms and conditions for State corporations.
The guidelines are also expected to provide a new standard for the governance and ethical behaviour of board members and staff of State corporations.
The move came at a time the government was pushing for stringent sustainability measures in line with the goal of driving the national wage bill downwards to the 35% target.
Differences in the salaries drawn by Vice Chancellors of various universities, for example, has emerged as a bone of contention in the past, with statistics showing that some universities pay almost double the salaries earned by their counterparts in the same level.
Cabinet addresses doctors’ strike
Also in the meeting, the Cabinet was briefed on the ongoing industrial action by doctors across the country.
According to the dispatch, members were informed that only four of the 19 issues in contention concerned the National Government namely– basic salary arrears, scholarships for postgraduate studies, medical insurance and stipends for medical interns.
Also Read: Why Medical Interns Can’t Receive Fat Salaries: SRC
All the issues, the cabinet was informed, have been resolved save for the stipend of interns. In its response, the Cabinet was adamant that it is unsustainable to continue paying KSh206,000 a month to the interns.
Consequently, the Cabinet endorsed the government directive to set the internship stipend at KSh70,000, saying other interns in public service are paid Ksh25,000.
Their resolutions came even as the doctors vowed to persist their push for higher stipends for medical interns.
On Tuesday, a team of cabinet secretaries led by Head of Public Service Felix Koskei accused the doctors through their trade union of dishonesty after they failed to show up for a meeting scheduled to sign an agreement on a return-to-work formula.
Also Read: Pressure for Govt Employees as Ruto Vows to Reduce Spending on Salaries
Fake fertilizer
On the contentious issue on fertilizer, the Cabinet was informed that fertilizer has been distributed in 42 counties, with uptake going up by 100 per cent.
So far, 2.9 million bags have been distributed to 538,061 farmers compared to 1.09 million bags to 270,000 farmers in April last year.
Farmers registered on the fertilizer online portal have hit 5.9 million compared to 2.3 million last year. In addition, 9.5 million e-vouchers.
Regarding the fake fertilizer scandal, President Ruto directed adoption of tough measures against “anyone who adulterates an important national programme” by supplying sub-standard fertilizer.
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