Download Government is not lying, and we mean every word we

Sunday Nation
Date: 06.04.2014
Page 13
Article size: 294 cm2
ColumnCM: 65.33
AVE: 141120.0
Government is not lying, and we
mean every word we tell Kenyans
top civil servants increased their
I made at the launch of the national
disappeared (or the figures cooked)
should be seen as pure mischief.
Ndii proceeds to state that spend­
ing 35pc of all public expenditure (and
29pc of all recurrent expenditure) on
debate on the public wage bill sustain­
ability on March 10, 2014, cannot go
salaries and benefits this financial
public service ranks may have lost
year should not be an issue because
7opc of their earnings in real terms.
unchallenged. Apart from the many
"these ratios are excellent". The gov­
unsubstantiated insinuations about lies
ernment is concerned because such
This resulted in gross disparities be­
tween the highest and lowest paid
on the part the ministry of Devolution
and Planning and the government as a
whole, the article contains many factual
inaccuracies and outright distortions
that Kenyans must be made aware of,
so that we can proceed rationally with
the national debate on this important
subject. I write to refute such untruths
rather than the anti­government propa­
ganda warfare which Ndii seems so
a wage bill crowds out development
spending and procurement of goods
and services that the public service,
at national and county levels, needs
in order to serve Kenyans better.
The provocative and inaccurate
comments by David Ndii in
his Saturday Nation article of
March 29, 2014, on the presentation
The truth:
Kenyans
should be
assured
that the
Ministry
of Devo­
lution and
Planning,
and the
keen to wage.
To start with, Ndli's article states
that contrary to my presentation, the
government wage bill cannot be 13 per
cent (pc) of GDP and 5lpc of revenue
as projected by the government or the
2013/14 financial year. This he argues
is because "we know that our revenue
ment
is just under 24pc of GDP". I wish to
clarify that total revenue and grants
as a percentage of GDP averaged
2fi.6pc (not 24pc) between 2008/
mean
09 and 2012/13 according to "2013
Economic Survey". Revised estimates
govern­
Even more alarming, Kenya now
has the dubious distinction of hav­
ing the highest wage bill out of
GDP spending in Eastern Africa.
IMF estimates, which only capture
the central government wage (ex­
cluding parastatals, TSC and other
independent commissions, County
governments and security agencies)
put the 2012/13 wage bill to GDP ratio
in Uganda at 3­9pc, Tiinzania at 6.3pc,
and Kenya at 7pc. When we add the
the bottom lost 25pc of their wages
to inflation, while those in the middle
public servants.
My presentation mentioned the
same disparity, indicating that the
government had recognised the prob­
lem and was seeking a solution. My
ministry is just as concerned about
rationalising the public service,
matching total wage packages to
productivity, and reducing the gap
between the top and the bottom cad­
res of our public service. KIPPRA is
part of the Ministry of Devolution and
Planning and its report indicates that
the lowest paid public officers now
earn just one per cent of the income
of the highest paid. This Is hardly the
case of a ministry concealing dispari­
ties in order to benefit the well­paid
ranks in public service.
wage numbers of these institutions,
The article concludes by insinuat­
it brings the Kenyan Wage to GDP
ratio to I3pc as was stated previously.
These figures may appear excellent
ing that the wage bill debate Initiated
by the President "is a red herring"
to Ndii, but they are unacceptable
to the Kenyan government given its
goose chase." This is inaccurate and
in bad taste. Kenyans should be as­
sured that the Ministry of Devolution
The ministry's position is supported
by the Kenya Parliamentary Budget
Office Policy Paper of November,
last year, indicating a more widely­
long­term commitments to creating
jobs, modernising our education and
health services and making them
more widely accessible, building
more infrastructure and generating
more energy, among other commit­
ments. This is the promise, of the
government, to provide services to
its people, not to spend on itself.
The largest part of Ndii's article
is taken from a policy paper he co­
shared view than the article indicates.
authored with Harris Mule and Prof
In view of this, to say that one per
Terry Ryan more than a decade ago.
Between 1971 and 2003, he claims,
every
for 2013/14 put the expected figure at
word we
As I explained, on the basis of the
government's revised estimates,
the public sector wage bill is likely
to consume 5 ipc of revenue and ljpc
say
Highest wage bill
salaries at two and a half times in
inflation adjusted terms. Those at
that level ot a little higher.
of GDP this financial year and this
is not as far­fetched as Ndii states.
cent of GDP collected in revenue has
intended to send the SRC on a wild
and Planning, and the Government
as a whole mean every word we say,
and are committed to enhancing the
public service delivefy experience of
every Kenyan by guaranteeing effi­
cient, effective and citizen centric
public service delivery.
Anne Waiguru is Cabinet Secretary for
Devolution and Planning
Gitau Warigi's column resumes next
week
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