The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has suspended the newly reviewed pay and benefits structures for several categories of county government officials, citing concerns that implementing them under current fiscal conditions could threaten the affordability and sustainability of county wage bills.
The suspension, which took effect immediately, affects remuneration structures recently issued for state officers in county executives, members of County Public Service Boards, County Secretaries and County Attorneys.
It halts a salary and benefits review that had been scheduled to take effect in July this year. SRC Chairperson Sammy Chepkwony set out the decision in a letter dated September 11, 2026. “The Commission resolved to suspend, with immediate effect, the implementation of the remuneration and benefits structures for County Governments,” he said.
According to the Commission, the previous structures had created significant disparities between national and county government employees, contributing to an inflated wage bill that risked crowding out essential development spending at the county level.
The move has drawn criticism from public sector unions. The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary-General Davji Atella argued that county health workers and other affected staff remain public servants who deserve predictable and equitable remuneration regardless of which level of government employs them.
Atella urged that any affordability concerns be resolved through transparent consultations involving the national government, county authorities and the affected workers themselves, rather than leaving county staff alone to absorb the fiscal pressure.
The Council of Governors now finds itself caught between two competing pressures, with national government fiscal directives on one side and county employees’ demands on the other as it considers how to respond to the suspension.
Public sector unions have signalled that the dispute could escalate into fresh nationwide strike action if the matter is not resolved, and the outcome is likely to shape not just the immediate fate of county workers’ pay, but Kenya’s broader approach to managing its public sector wage bill amid continued fiscal constraints and debt-management pressures.
Wednesday’s decision continues a pattern of SRC interventions aimed at containing Kenya’s public wage bill in recent years.
The Commission previously froze salary reviews for public officers nationally in the 2024/2025 financial year, citing fiscal constraints tied to the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, 2024, a decision it said was made in consultation with the National Treasury and grounded in Article 230(5) of the Constitution, which requires the Commission to ensure the fiscal sustainability of public compensation.
SRC has separately flagged that the country’s overall public wage bill has continued to climb, warning of unsustainable growth as the figure surged past Sh1.25 trillion.
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