Ruto speaks on civil servants salary delays
Civil servants will have to wait a little longer to receive their March 2023 salaries, President William Ruto has said.
The Head of State spoke at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi on April 11, 2023, during the release of the report on the evaluation of the performance of ministries, state corporations, and tertiary institutions for the 2021/2022 financial year.
President Ruto stressed that the government will not borrow so as to finance recurrent expenditures.
“We are not going to borrow money to pay salaries. We will look forward to our own revenues,” he said.
The President also attributed the financial challenges facing his administration to the ‘monumental public debt’ he inherited from former president Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime.
“It is the first time this has happened (the government has failed to pay salaries on time) but also, it is the first time we have such monumental debts. I want to assure the country we have turned the corner,” he added.
Among the civil servants who are yet to receive their March 2023 salaries are MPs and Senators.
Despite the delays, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, speaking in an interview on NTV, said he will be the last person to complain.
“Kenyans as we speak, most of them have not had a chance to celebrate Easter due to challenges of the high cost of living and more, complaining about not receiving my March salary would be the last thing,” he said.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua recently expressed that the government opted to pay off some loans that matured last week and asked the civil servants to wait a lit bit for their salaries.
“It is true we are having challenges in paying salaries and giving money to governors. Because the handshake gov’t ripped this country, they borrowed money left right, and center. Because we are a responsible government, we have to pay this money,” he said.
“What we collected the last two weeks was sufficient to pay the loans. What we are collecting this week will pay salaries and other requirements,” he added.
This comes as David Ndii, Chairperson of President William Ruto’s Economic Council, accused the government of ‘wastage’.
“Government is extremely wasteful, there is not a single day that I am not exasperated by not just how wasteful it is but by how deliberate it is and how unbothered people are,” he said.
Nairobi News understands the delay in paying salaries could impact civil servants in the long term, and especially those paying off loans at banks.
Also read: Disco-ready? Eve Mungai’s outfit to Akothee’s wedding bashed