Latest available numbers show Kenya's annual wage bill is expected to rise to Sh650 billion by the end of last year, which is equivalent to an annual 11 per cent increase. Before Kenya’s Ambassador to China Sarah Serem left her gig as chairperson of the Salaries and Renumeration Commission, the government’s broad objective was to “promote a wage bill that is affordable and sustainable”. She was confident that through this policy, the government had managed to “temporarily freeze” a wage increase. The referendum should, at the minimum, focus the country away from dependence on government jobs, to private sector jobs by incentivising it. In other words, the private sector is critical to economic growth and poverty reduction, but it cannot and does not act alone.

Source: The Star March 16, 2019 03:11 UTC