Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has announced the government’s commitment to fully implement the second phase of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for civil servants.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, September 3, Muturi confirmed that the National Treasury has agreed to allocate the necessary funds for these payments, which will be retroactively applied from July.
“The National Treasury has agreed to provide the resources needed to pay civil servants’ salaries according to the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement,” Muturi stated.
All civil servants are expected to receive their backdated salaries by the end of this month. This decision comes in response to recent legal action taken by the Union of Kenya Civil Servants, which sought to prevent the Salary and Remuneration Commission (SRC) from freezing pay increases for its members.
The union had also issued a warning of potential industrial action if the pay rise was not implemented by the end of the month.
On September 2, the Union of Kenya Civil Servants gave the government a seven-day ultimatum, threatening to strike if the second phase of the CBA was not enforced by the end of the week. Union Secretary General Tom Odege criticized the SRC’s decision to suspend the CBA’s implementation, calling it illegal and emphasizing that the agreed-upon terms should be respected.
The union noted that the first phase of the Agreement, signed on September 11, 2023, covered the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, while the second phase was intended to span from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.
According to Odege’s affidavit, the CBA applies to all civil servants within job groups CSG 17 to CSG 8 of the national government, including those deployed at both the national and county levels. The agreement is designed to ensure annual salary increments as outlined for the respective grades.
Despite this, the SRC issued a circular freezing salary reviews for all public officers for FY2024-25 until further notice.
