Africa-Press – Kenya. President Ruto has said the government will implement several measures to achieve a 35 per cent wage bill ratio to revenue.
He said the government aspires to achieve the milestone in the next three years.
The President said there has been significant progress in managing public wage bill, highlighting its reduction from 51 per cent to 46 per cent.
“We aspire to deal with this challenge in the next three years and bring it to 35 per cent,” he said.
Ruto spoke during the Third National Wage Bill Conference 2024 at the Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi.
He added that leaders should ask themselves three questions; whether it is correct to lower the wage bill to 35 per cent, whether it is doable and whether it is easy.
“It is up to us as leaders to decide whether we want to do this, whether we want to talk the walk or walk the talk, that is the decision we must make and it boils down to the fact that decisions to be made are not easy, comfortable and popular,” he said.
President Ruto urged leaders not to pursue populist positions and instead be prepared to make tough decisions for the government to achieve the ambitious goal.
“We must stop chasing what is popular; we must go after what is right,” he said.
The President added that the success of a country depends on leadership.
Ruto commended the institutions that won the wage bill accountability award for setting a worthy example for the rest of the public sector.
“This is the way to go, and you have demonstrated that it is feasible. Congratulations, and keep it up,” he said.
The President said the government is keen on enhancing revenue collection through digitisation and fighting corruption in the public service.
He said increasing the country’s revenue will improve the wage bill-to-revenue ratio.
“I believe that we can raise an extra Sh500 billion, if not Sh1 trillion, just by digitising the Kenya Revenue Authority,” he said.
The President pointed out that the government is also creating alternative pathways for employment to ease the pressure on the PSC which, he said, cannot hire all job seekers.
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