MPs clip SRC powers, take away salary oversight role

In the changes, MPs have moved to block the Sammy Chepkwony-led salaries agency from having an absolute say on key aspects of public sector pay.

The committee has deleted and amended key provisions in the rules, which would have seen SRC exercise control over pay set by the Teachers Service Commission and the Public Service Commission.

The House team has stripped the commission of three provisions that they argued would have given SRC excessive control over how public bodies manage their staff.

A provision that sought to give SRC the mandate to "keep under review all matters relating to salaries and remuneration of other public officers" has been amended.

The committee chaired by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga has ruled the regulation as ultra vires, that is, as one that is outside the commission’s legal authority.

"Regulation 3(1)(iii) seeks to accord the Salaries and Remuneration Commission the mandate of keeping under review all matters relating to salaries and remuneration of other public officers. This is ultra vires to the Act,” the report reads.

The decision effectively blocks SRC from continuously monitoring the employment terms of public officers who are not state officers.

MPs argued that such oversight belongs to the respective employers, including the Public Service Commission, the Teachers Service Commission, and county governments.

The committee’s report further recalled the original intent of the constitution, noting that during the drafting process, "the power to set salaries for general public officers was deliberately removed from the SRC’s ambit.”

In the regulations, SRC sought a say on approval of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), but MPs declined, holding that “such matters are closely linked to government policy and collective bargaining."

In a second major move, Parliament has curtailed SRC’s power to conduct job evaluations on its own initiative.

The original draft required the salaries commission to undertake a job evaluation where roles had not been assessed under its framework.

Critics argued that the provision would have opened the door to intrusive audits and bureaucratic overreach.

The committee recommended amending the regulation to provide that an evaluation "may be done upon the request of the public body."

The change prevents SRC from forcing its way into the organisational structures of state corporations, ministries, and counties without invitation.

This means ministries, state corporations, and county governments will now retain control over when and how their job structures are reviewed.

Employers will no longer be compelled to submit to SRC-led evaluations unless they deem it necessary.

The third amendment removed a clause that would have compelled public bodies to seek SRC’s advice before giving financial rewards for productivity and performance.

The committee found that such matters are already governed by other legal frameworks and fall outside SRC’s core mandate.

“The stated area is regulated under other relevant applicable statutes and is not in the purview of the commission,” the report states.

The deletion effectively returns the management of performance-based incentives to individual institutions.

As such, it strips SRC of a gatekeeping role that critics said would have created unnecessary bureaucracy.

Critics argued it would have turned SRC into a gatekeeper for even routine human resource decisions, potentially slowing down operations.

The amendments confine SRC more strictly to its advisory role, particularly on matters relating to state officers, while leaving day-to-day human resource decisions to employing entities.

The regulatory battle has been long in the making.

SRC first submitted draft regulations in 2022, but the committee rejected them, citing inadequate public participation.

MPs at that time cited, particularly, the failure to consult key stakeholders like the Teachers Service Commission, the Parliamentary Service Commission, and the Public Service Commission.

In its latest submission, SRC provided evidence that those bodies had indeed submitted written memoranda.

The committee acknowledged that "SRC made appropriate consultations with persons who are likely to be affected by the draft regulations.”

The regulations will now proceed to publication, but with SRC’s authority over oversight, job evaluation, and performance rewards significantly clipped.