SRC approves allowances for State administrators 

The payment, communicated yesterday by the Ministry of Interior, comes after two years of waiting.

Specific payment schedules were not made available but sources indicated that the allowances, which were factored in this month’s salaries, range from Sh7,000 for assistant chiefs to Sh80,000 for regional commissioners. 

The allowances will be subject to taxation.

“The available human resource capacity in the national government administration officers’ structure has been stretched, compelling the administrators to shoulder almost double the usual responsibilities,” Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said in the communication.

Kenya is administratively split into eight regions, 47 counties, 290 sub-counties, 1,450 wards and hundreds of sub-locations and villages. Every unit is run by a national government administration officer. 

Additionally, a number of officers from the national administration are seconded to other government agencies. 

It is these officers who will get the new extraneous allowance.

“The Ministry of Interior gladly acknowledges this pertinent move geared towards motivating the officers with a view to improving services,” Dr Kibicho added.

The additional responsibilities on the shoulders of the officers include coordination, supervision and reporting of State development projects in their jurisdiction.

These changes came in January 2019 when President Uhuru Kenyatta transferred the powers of coordinating national development projects from Deputy President William Ruto’s office to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.

It meant that the roles played by Dr Matiang’i at national level were delegated all the way down the national government administrative structures, to the sub-chiefs.

There are six national government and coordination levels. 

At the top is the regional commissioner, followed by the county commissioner, sub-county commissioner, assistant county commissioner, the chief and assistant chief.

They all ensure government presence is felt up to the grassroots. 

Their duties include preventing crime, arbitrating in disputes and sensitising residents on government programmes.

While acknowledging their new responsibilities, Mr Kenyatta directed the SRC to consider giving national government administrative officers field allowances.

“The authorisation of the extraneous allowance came after extensive deliberations on recompensing the administrators – from the assistant chief all the way up to the regional commissioner – commensurate with the nature of their work and the risks they face in the field,” Dr Kibicho said yesterday. 

“In determining the allowances, the Public Service Commission and SRC also took into account the extra responsibilities, extraneous nature of their roles, fairness and equity relative to other public servants and broad implications on the fiscal sustainability of the wage bill in the entire public sector.”

Police officers are also pushing for the introduction of similar allowances, citing an increase in their workload especially since the country registered its first case of coronavirus in March last year. 

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