The Wages Bill The President and VP have taken a pay cut, and by way of a roadside declaration, directed the heads of parastatals to follow suit. This is a good start, even if it is the wrong way to do it! And it is true that our elite is overpaid, with allowances for this and that, in addition to a general salary. And it is true that our MPs are only interested in their own pockets. And it is true that our MCA’s followed the MPs example, and spent most of 2013 in agitating and arguing for more money. And it is true that the gap between rich and poor is widening. But it is not true that the public wage bill amounts to 13% of the GDP. Yet that is the figure we have been given, and suddenly, even though nothing has changed over the past few months, this news dominates not only the media, but also public discussion. But, my friends, there is no evidence that that the public wages bill is anywhere near 13% of Kenya’s GDP. David Ndii makes this point powerfully in Nation, March 15th. Assuming his argument is correct, the obvious question is, why are we all being misdirected in this way, and looking at salaries and allowances? The pubic sector wages bill is being presented to us as a crisis, and is being used as a weapon, to control us. We will be told that the country needs a dose of austerity. We will be told that it’s either wages or development. And of course calls for austerity always demand sacrifices from the rank and file, never from the elite! Their salaries and allowances are unaffected, while nurses and teachers and low to middle grade public servants are told there is not enough money for them to receive pay increases. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the employers’ book-! They show us their purse, and say it is empty; they shake their heads sorrowfully, saying there is no money, when all the time there is plenty of money- but hidden in another purse - hidden in the one they don’t show the employees! But this is not the only trick. We think something more is going on at the moment. While we are discussing wages, the elite are doing what they do best- eating! It is divide and rule again - pitting us against each other as we argue our relative worth against other wage slaves. The elite have set the discussion agenda, the topics for the media, and we are blindly allowing them to do it. And what we are missing; what we are not talking about is the absolute colossal waste, the continuing corruption, the gluttony of our lords and masters. Please allow us to remind you. Last year 300 billion went missing from Kenya’s budget. It has never been found, even though the President ordered an urgent investigation. Remember? Not 30 million. Not even 300 million. No, my friends, it was 300 billion! That was one third of the annual budget. And last year we were told that NHIF bosses lost 116.9 million. Ha! The Daily Nation of 17th March now reports that a recent audit states it was 4 billion. How much did the IEBC waste on useless poll kits? 1.3 billion. How much must we pay for Anglo Leasing? 1.64 trillion…. And of course we will have to pay Olive Consortium for the breach of the laptop contract. Now, let’s add another crucial matter into our discussion - the standard gauge railway. This flagship project is going to plunge Kenya into debt, a debt that will take not months, but years to repay. Do you get the picture? We would not be worrying about the public sector wages bill if we didn’t suffer such mammoth losses: if we didn’t have greedy fools among our elite: if they didn’t enjoy impunity. So, dear friends, we are looking in the wrong direction. And we suspect that is what some people want us to do! They ask us to look at devolution costs, at reducing the number of Counties, at axing nominated Senators and MPs. They say the purse is empty. But we know the real purse is full, and that many of them intend to carry on eating from it, even as wananchi starve and die in Baringo, Mandera, Turkana and Wajir. Even as wananchi cannot find school fees or medical costs: even as wananchi are duped into believing that the purse is empty. You see, most of the elite can always find money for what they want to do - but won’t find the money for the rest of us. So it’s not can’t, but won’t. And wananchi need to wake up, and as the Americans say, ‘smell the coffee.’ Except we won’t, because most of us can’t afford to buy it!
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 09:11:57 +0000
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