No layoffs for civil servants as Treasury unveils new payroll control system
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi confirmed that a new human resource management information system will replace layoffs as the strategy for controlling the wage bill.
The government has shelved plans to reduce the size of the public service, choosing instead to focus on streamlining payroll management.
The National Treasury says job cuts are no longer on the table as Kenya grapples with high unemployment, even as the public service workforce reached 1.05 million in June.
More To Read
- President Ruto pitches National Infrastructure Fund as engine for long‑term growth
- World Bank warns political interference weakening Kenya’s state-owned enterprises
- How Grade 10 learners will be placed in senior schools using eight-point assessment system
- Women secure majority of contracts in inclusive government procurement programme
- How to check school your child has been placed in before release of KJSEA results
- Treasury CS John Mbadi defends ballooning State House budget
Salaries and allowances for 2024/25 alone consumed Sh1.25 trillion, nearly half of the total taxes collected during the year.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi confirmed that a new human resource management information system will replace layoffs as the strategy for controlling the wage bill.
“With the new human resource management information system that we are putting in place, we are going to manage the wage bill at least at the rate at which it is today because I don't see the government having a strategy of or bringing retrenchment as a strategy,” he said. Mbadi added that cutting jobs would worsen unemployment, which the country can ill afford.
The system will merge fragmented payrolls across national government departments and counties, targeting ghost workers and other inefficiencies.
Mbadi highlighted early successes from similar initiatives, pointing out that the Ministry of Education saved Sh4 billion through better monitoring of capitation funds.
“Just by the Ministry of Education using a system to check on capitation, it has led to reports that I've got Sh4 billion savings on capitalisation. This is an example of the savings we are looking at,” he said.
Previously, the government had planned sweeping layoffs targeting support staff, casual employees, and those with falsified academic credentials.
Support staff currently account for roughly 702,950 of the 1.05 million public service workers—far exceeding the recommended 30 per cent ratio.
“The composition of the establishment itself is problematic in that it is seriously skewed towards support staff at the expense of technical and other core-function staff. Clearly, 83 per cent of state departments have violated the recommended ratio of technical staff to support services,” President William Ruto noted.
Despite earlier warnings from the Public Service Cabinet Secretary, Moses Kuria, that a major restructuring would include job cuts, the Treasury says the new payroll system will proceed amid resistance from some quarters.
CS Mbadi stressed that the plan will integrate all national government entities by December 31, 2025, and counties by June 2026.
“We can make our public sector more efficient and manage our payroll so that we eliminate ghost workers in our payroll, and that is why we are integrating the payroll now, with the resistance, of course, from some quarters, but they are not going to succeed,” he said.
Top Stories Today
