The conversation about the public wage bill has been going on for a while though the intensity of the debate has increased with the recent announcement of a pay cut for the President and his deputy, with an appeal to others to follow suit.
It seems that every time the issue of wastage in public service and the high recurrent expenditure arises, the solutions proposed revolve around the public wage bill.
The gesture by the President and his deputy is commendable even though it will contribute little to solving the problem at hand.
Recently, we learned that the bill may also be inflated by the presence of ghost workers in the payroll system and by the fact that some civil servants maybe drawing double salaries. In light of these revelations, it is important for government to improve its human resource management systems.
A proper audit should also help to clean up the payroll system to remove workers who have left public service through resignations or natural attrition.
The wage bill could be reduced even further by eliminating duplication of roles within the public service.
While it is true that the public wage bill is unsustainable, if the government is committed to reducing recurrent expenditure, it must take a much broader approach and check all excesses. One of the issues that must be addressed is travel by government officials. As the officials rake in millions in per diem and incur high air travel costs travelling abroad with large entourages, middle level officials resort to numerous local retreats that also cost the taxpayer millions in allowances meant to cater for accommodation. Government should encourage the use of information and communication technology to help cut the need for these expenses.
Another area of concern is the cost of government transport. The government owns far too many vehicles and spends too much money on their maintenance and running costs.The policy to eliminate fuel guzzlers from the government fleet attained only modest success. The government should only own vehicles for essential services.
Reforming our public procurement system would also greatly help to reduce the loss of public resources. As it is now, the procurement system is poorly designed, costly and badly managed, making it prone to abuse.
Public procurement is the foundation of corruption. More needs to be done to ensure every bidder has a fair chance of accessing opportunities without hindrance from rent-seeking operatives and cartels.
Curbing travel and transport expenses and improving the public procurement system could help the government to save about Sh250 billion a year. This could and should be augmented by improved tax collection.
At present, KRA is collecting around Sh1 trillion per year but with greater efficiency, it could collect more than Sh1.5 trillion.Additionally, KRA must deepen and broaden coverage to ensure that revenue is collected from those who are currently not captured by the tax regime. Every Kenyan should and must pay tax.Reducing public expenditure must not be an end in itself; it must be geared towards improving the lives of Kenyans.
The savings accrued from a strict fiscal discipline and the more revenue we can get from improving the efficiency of tax collection would be adequate to allow more investments in security and infrastructure, the two sectors critical to reducing the cost of production and driving down the cost of living.
Additionally, discipline in the management of national resources will free up funds to enable the government to carry out its agenda without over-taxing Kenyans.
The pay cut is good because it reflects an appreciation of the reality that many Kenyans face. I hope that the people who are pledging to support the President’s gesture will fulfil their pledges so that it is not just a public relations exercise.
I recall when MPs in the 10th Parliament pledged to pay tax; in the end, only two ended up doing it.
However, and more importantly, we must pay attention to the broader issues of the recurrent public expenditure and not just restrict ourselves to a reduction of the wage bill.
Mr Kenneth, a presidential contender in the 2013 poll, is the leader of the Kenya National Congress.
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