Civil servants in Kenya have threatened to go on their first-ever strike at the end of March if the government fails to award them a 600% pay rise.
The Kenya Civil Servants Union, which has been in existence for a year, says it has been negotiating with the government on behalf of about 250 000 workers — but that that little progress has been made concerning wage increases.
The last meeting between the two parties took place in November last year, although the union has invited authorities to another round of talks next week.
”If there is no positive response from the government by that time [March 30], I assure you there will be no more talking,” said the union’s secretary general, Alfayo Nyakundi.
”Government authorities only say they are looking into the matter. For how long are we going to wait? For how much longer are we going to continue being demoralised? It seems that the only language understood well by government is when workers take to the streets to demand their rights,” Nyakundi added.
In recent days, union representatives have been travelling around Kenya to prepare members for a possible stayaway. But, those civil servants interviewed appeared to need little incentive for downing tools.
”If by striking we will earn salary increments, we are ready to do it — because at the moment what we are earning is a mockery of justice. The living standards are going up day by day and yet we are on the same salary scale we had upon employment,” said Leonora Achola, who starting working for the government 15 years ago.
Workers have also criticised the disparity between salaries earned by senior officials and those at lower levels of the government. The union says permanent secretaries can get paid as much as $8 000 a month — while junior doctors make do with $53. The lowest-paid civil servant is said to earn just less than $35 a month.
”This is gross injustice,” said Ali Sokoro Mohammed, the union’s national organising secretary. ”We want to see this gap narrowed. We also want to be treated as human beings.”
Efforts to get hold of the head of the public service, Francis Muthaura, for comment on the threat of strike action were fruitless.
Critics have long maintained that poor pay for civil servants has contributed to the substantial levels of corruption in Kenya, which have seen the country isolated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. President Mwai Kibaki’s government came into power with pledges to put an end to graft — something that has led to a resumption of contact with donor institutions.
Earlier this week, the Kenyan chapter of anti-corruption group Transparency International (TI-Kenya) reported that levels of bribery in the East African country appeared to be decreasing. TI-Kenya said its bribery index for last year showed that small-scale bribery was on the wane; however, officials wary of being caught in the act were also demanding larger inducements to bend the law.
”The government must sort out its workers adequately if it is serious about doing away with corruption,” said Mohammed, adding: ”Our newly registered union will continue fighting for rights of civil servants, addressing all ills affecting us including the issue of retrenchment.”
Last November, the World Bank advised Kenya to trim its civil service, saying the organisation was bloated.
Under the government of former president Daniel Arap Moi, civil servants were denied the right to belong to a union. The Kenya Civil Servants Union was formed when Kibaki took over power in December 2002. — IPS