County governments spending on personal emoluments went up marginally by 2.5pc to Ksh 199.95 billion at the close of the last financial year, latest data by Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) shows.
According to SRC, the 47 counties spending on salaries and wages rose from Ksh 195.09 billion in the FY2022/23 to account for 45.9pc of the total revenue which declined to Ksh 435 billion from Ksh 466 billion.
“Analysis of the county government expenditure on the wage bill, as a share of revenue, shows that on average, the ratio has remained above the PFM Regulations, 2015, of not more than 35pc,” reads the Fourth Quarter Wage Bulletin.
The SRC report further shows that spending on development by the county government shrunk by 16.2pc as at June 30, 2024, to Ksh 82.12 billion from Ksh 97.98 billion recorded over the same period last year.
Operations and Maintenance budget on the other hand also declined between the two financial years.
The budget reduced from Ksh 135.8 billion to Ksh 134.4 as the the close of FY2023/24.
SRC says National Government personal emoluments spending also increased to Ksh 599.8 billion from Ksh 545 billion.
SRC projects the total public wage bill to rise despite freeze in public employment.
“The public service wage payments grew by 6.36pc from Ksh 1.04 trillion in FY2021/2022 to Ksh 1.1 trillion in FY 2022/2023, and is estimated to grow further by a similar rate to Ksh 1.17 trillion in FY 2023/2024,” said SRC.
The commission says the number of employees in the public service grew at an average rate of 9.2pc per annum, from 842,900 employees in 2018 to 948,200 employees in 2022, and 992,900 in 2023.
The employment registered a 4.7pc growth in 2023, compared to an increase of 2.7pc recorded in 2022.
