SRC Is Set To Increase Civil Servants’ Travel Allowance In Fresh Review

By Getrude Mathayo / Published March 24, 2023 | 11:28 am

KEY POINTS

The new proposal, which is expected to favor state officers traveling for official duty outside cities, county headquarters, Malindi, and Naivasha, will see daily local travel allowances go up by between KES 1,200 and 8,000 Shillings.

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission, SRC, is seeking to increase travel allowances for State officers attending official duties in towns outside Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nakuru in a move that could pile pressure on the wage bill.

The SRC is proposing to change the current practice where daily travel allowances are pegged on job groups and towns being visited, with those traveling to Nairobi city for instance pocketing as much as 67 percent more than those visiting towns outside cities and county headquarters.

The proposed increments will raise the minimum per diems for local travel by between 40 percent and 66.7 percent, depending on the job group.

The SRC has written to various State agencies, including the Treasury, the Chief of Staff, and the Head of Public Service, requesting their feedback on the proposed changes.

SRC has written to State bodies including the Treasury and the chief of staff and the head of the public service to submit their views on the proposal that also seeks to keep unchanged the travel allowances for international trips.

The payments called daily subsistence allowance (DSA), are meant to facilitate public officers to attend to official assignments away from their duty stations within the country and outside of the country.

“Pursuant to SRC’s mandate, and in line with the principles set out in Article 230(5) of the constitution, and Section 12 of SRC Act, 2011, SRC has reviewed DSA rates in the public service,” says SRC.

The travel allowance review will also be introduced for civil servants in job groups K-N, where the allowances will be at a uniform rate of KES 11,200 as opposed to the current rate of KES 7,000 for those on assignments outside cities, county headquarters, Malindi, and Naivasha

The total wage bill hit Sh1.055 trillion in the 2021/22 financial year from Sh784 billion five years partly on allowances, to account for over 50 percent of the ordinary revenues.

SRC is proposing a similar approach for other job groups, opting to pick a flat rate that is equivalent to the maximum allowances, being what those on official trips to the four cities have been earning.

The payments called daily subsistence allowance (DSA), are meant to facilitate public officers to attend to official assignments away from their duty stations within and out of the country.

“Pursuant to SRC’s mandate, and in line with the principles set out in Article 230(5) of the Constitution, and Section 12 of SRC Act, 2011, SRC has reviewed DSA rates in the public service,” says SRC.