Suna West Member of Parliament Peter Masara has advised the government against its planned move to deduct the salaries of civil servants as a way of reducing the wage bill.
Masara who was speaking after a church function at Ombo SDA church in Migori Town urged the government to look for alternative ways of collecting revenue instead of subjecting poor civil servants to pay cuts.
The MP who is also a member of the Budget and Appropriation Committee in the National Assembly, outlined that the government has already introduced heavy taxation on civil servants including the recently introduced housing levy and it would be unfair if the government made more deductions.
The government aims to reduce its wage bill to 35 percent of revenue in line with Public Finance Management (PFM) Act 2012 by 2028 and according to statistics on Labour Productivity from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in 2021, Kenya is ranked at number 151 out of 185 countries globally, and number 22 out of 46 countries in Africa with a 47.3 per cent of the revenue going to the wage bill.
Additionally, the legislator urged the government to curb cases of corruption and also ensure those evading tax comply before they start targeting civil servants.
Masara castigated governors for continuing to demand an increase in County Allocations yet they could not show what they have done with the allocations which they claim to be little.
He emphasized that unnecessary spending by most governors on miscellaneous activity is hefty and consumes county funds, meant for development projects.
By Geoffrey Makokha
