Ministers, legislators, and civil servants are yet to receive their March salaries. Most county government employees and some civil servants were last paid reportedly in January. The national treasury needs at least $434 million to pay salaries and pensions every month. All pointers indicate that the crisis may persist for months. National treasury and economic planning cabinet secretary Njuguna Ndung’u has warned of tough times ahead, saying, the government is in a “financial fix.” Desperate civil servants have threatened to go on strike—some government employees have already. Kenya’s financial crunch and economic crisis have been in the making since at least the 2007-08 post-election violence, according to observers. The unrest largescale displacement set the tone for the national currency’s plunge and the World’s Bank’s falling macroeconomic outlook for the country, chasing away investors and destroying the agricultural value chain.
SOURCE: QUARTZ AFRICA
For the First Time the Government of Kenya has Failed to Pay its Employees
