Government moves to review hardship areas; a move to impact on civil servants salaries
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Civil servants receiving higher hardship allowances for working in areas listed as hardship may see their their salaries dip over impending review
Civil servants receiving higher hardship allowances for working in areas listed as hardship may see their their salaries dip over impending review.
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria informed the Senate on Wednesday that his ministry is reviewing a list classified as hardship with the aim of dropping others.
Without naming specific areas, the CS explained that the Ministry was informed by the development experienced in some of the listed areas.
CS Kuria said the first review will be made public in January 2024.
“In order to ensure all civil servants work in a conducive environment and maximise their productivity, my ministry is in the process of developing a policy that will clearly define the criteria for classifying the hardship areas in our country,” he stated.
“My commitment as I spelled out to the Honourable Senators when I appeared before them this morning on the floor of the Senate is that in the next three months, we will have a cabinet memo that will address the disparity across the country. Some parts of the country that were earlier classified as hardships areas have since developed while others need to be gazetted.”
The Public Service CS further explained that some areas that do not feature on the list will be gazetted.
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Some of the sectors that may be affected by the degazettement include Education (deployment of teachers) and security (deployment of police officers) among others.
According to TSC, gazetted hardship areas include Garissa Isiolo, Kwale, Lamu, Mandera, Marsabit, Samburu, Taita Taveta, Tana River, Turkana, Wajir and West Pokot counties.
Others are Baringo North, Tiaty East, Tiaty West, and Marigat sub-counties in Baringo, Suba and Mbita sub-counties in Homa Bay, Mashuuru, Loitoktok, and Kajiado West sub-counties in Kajiado and Magarini and Ganze sub-counties in Kilifi.
Mumoni, Mutito North, and Tseikuru Sub-Counties in Kitui and Narok South and Narok North sub-counties in Narok are also categorised as hardship areas.
Teachers posted to hardship areas pocket between Ksh6,600 and Ksh38,100 in hardship allowance depending on the job description.
At the beginning of 2023, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) lamented that officers earned significantly less than their teaching counterparts.
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