As\nPresident Uhuru Kenyatta this week announced that he and his deputy William\nRuto would from next month each take an 80 percent pay cut towards coronavirus,\nquestions are swirling around cash raised in a previous fundraising campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his Wednesday address, Kenyatta said that Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries would also absorb pay cuts of 30 percent and 20 percent respectively. The aim is to free up more funds to be channeled towards fighting covid-19. Some 31 cases have been confirmed in Kenya. County Governors and their deputies have equally committed to cede part of their takehome pay to the corona fund, as have speakers of both Houses (Parliament and Senate).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn sharing the burden occasioned by the global\nhealth pandemic over the duration of the crisis and commencing immediately my\nadministration has offered a salary reduction of the senior rank executives,\u201d\nthe President said in his televised address to the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amidst\nthis latest fundraising drive, mystery surrounds the whereabouts of the cash raised\nin a previous similar drive led by the President. In excess of Sh70 million had\nbeen raised as of mid-2017 when the figure was last made public by the then\nTreasury secretary Henry Rotich, having been collected over a period of three\nyears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Background <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nMarch 2014, a year after being elected, President Kenyatta and his deputy Ruto\npledged to take a 20 percent pay cut in efforts to narrow the ballooning public\nwage bill and free up cash for development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nhead of State also directed ministers, principal secretaries and parastatal\nheads to take haircuts ranging from 10 to 20 percent. While the pay cut drive\nwas voluntary, the President warned those who defied the order would be sacked.\nKenya\u2019s State officers are among best paid in Africa with appointment to public\noffices largely seen as a ticket to riches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To\nhold the proceeds of the monthly deductions, an account dubbed Transformative\nFund was opened at the Central Bank of Kenya where the forfeited funds were\ndeposited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\naccount held Sh70 million as of mid-July 2017 and Sh46.9 million a year\nearlier, according to the then Treasury secretary Henry Rotich \u2013 a sluggish\ngrowth. Rotich stepped aside to pave way for corruption charges and was later\nreplaced by Ukur Yatani. Questions to Treasury secretary Yatani on the fate of\nthe cash went unanswered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe contributors (mainly CSs and PSs), will meet and agree on\nwhat project to support since it\u2019s their contribution,\u201d Rotich was earlier\nquoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The low amount signals that some top public officials may have defied the calls to trim their fat pay based on the number of expected contributors. This is despite the President’s warning that state officers who would not contribute would face the sack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) triggered the pay cut drive after it raised the red flag over the unsustainable annual wage bill that crossed the Sh500 billion-mark ($5 billion) in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n