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{
    "id": 1251631,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1251631/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 82,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "Be that as it may, you also know that SRC is a constitutional commission. It works independently but also looks at all matters that have been presented before it with a view of what is in the best interest of the country. A good starting point is for them to give the rationale of one; why they have taken this decision with regards to MCAs, as was the case last week, and today with regards to the Judiciary. Having presented the justification to this House, it will be in order for them to justify before us and say whether their decisions are in good faith or violate any principle of fairness and equity in remuneration of public officers. The SRC deals with the matter of remuneration for all public servants. Anybody that earns from the public kitty is under the purview and control of SRC. I hope you will direct this matter to the Committee on Labour and Social Welfare. One of the decisions that needs to come out of this exercise, once we are done, is for them to explain to us the disparity that we hear between people who earn differently in the public sector. We hear there are public servants who earn exceptionally well and those that earn poorly. What is their plan and justification for each and every cadre? Secondly, it would also be equally important for us and for this House, on behalf of the people of Kenya, to be satisfied that this exercise that SRC is undertaking, one, will not undermine the principles of good governance and two, the principle of attracting the best of talent to public service. If we are not careful and continue to imagine that since we find ourselves in a difficult fiscal positon as a country, the only solution is to reduce the earnings of those that are in offices, then people will move to the private sector or even change careers. Mr. Speaker, Sir, brain drain is alive in our country. Some of our best professors and doctors are switching careers from the public service because of such decisions. I would rather that instead of continuously reducing the earnings of public servants, we have a limit on the number each institution can take. There are institutions which are powerful. Parliament is such one institution. I say this as a fact, having served as the Chair of Staff Welfare for five years. I know that we as an institution are one of the institutions that needs to be brought under control. The same can be said for the Judiciary. The worst offender of this principle, of course, is the Executive. As we speak today, you cannot pinpoint and state the exact number of Kenyans that earn from the national kitty. Finally, what plans does SRC have for those public servants? I do not intend to take long. I think the Committee on Labour and Social Welfare, or whichever Committee that will be charged with this matter, needs to report back to us. What is the eventual decision on the huge wage bill that we continue to incur as a country? Is it just a matter of continuous reduction of salaries or do they foresee a strategy where they can cap employment just like they have done to county assemblies? This practice of SRC capping institutions that perhaps do not have a recourse or platform such as Parliament and leaving others that they fear must come to a stop."
}