Spending on salaries and wages jumped by Sh140.6 billion in the nine months ending March 2026, underlining a reversal of the government’s austerity drive and exposing growing pressure from an expanding public payroll despite deepening fiscal strain.
Fresh Treasury data shows the national government’s expenditure on salaries and wages rose to Sh576.7 billion in the July 2025-March period from Sh436.1 billion a year earlier, a steep 32.24 percent jump.
The increase marks the fastest growth in the Exchequer-funded payroll since the onset of restrictions on new recruitment except for essential sectors more than a decade ago, and signals a shift from the spending restraint adopted after the 2024 Gen Z-led protests against new taxes and high living costs.
The payroll data covers core civil servants in national government ministries, State departments and agencies, teachers and uniformed forces.It excludes workers across the 47 county governments, State corporations, parastatals, public universities, constitutional commissions and independent offices.
The latest figures are expected to intensify scrutiny over President William Ruto’s commitment to fiscal consolidation amid below-target revenue collection, rising debt repayment obligations and growing pressure for additional government spending.
The latest Quarterly Economic and Budgetary Review shows the payroll surge followed a period of relatively subdued growth as the Treasury sought to narrow the budget deficit under pressure from the International Monetary Fund.
In the nine months ending March 2024, for example, expenditure on salaries and wages had declined by 0.98 percent following efforts to freeze hiring and cut non-essential spending.
The increase then remained modest at 5.57 percent in the comparable period ending March 2025 before accelerating sharply during the current financial year.
The Sh140.6 billion jump in salaries alone is larger than the annual development budgets for several critical sectors such as energy and healthcare, adding to concerns over the impact of rising recurrent expenditure on development projects.
The increase was driven partly by the implementation of pay awards for teachers, disciplined forces and civil servants under various salary review programmes approved over the past year.
During the review period, officers under the National Police Service (NPS), Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) and National Youth Service (NYS) received a 10 percent basic salary increment.
Salary adjustmentsThe increment formed the second phase of a three-year reform programme based on recommendations by a task force chaired by former Chief Justice David Maraga.
The task force had proposed salary adjustments for disciplined forces after reviewing welfare concerns within the services.
“Having considered the uniqueness of the services offered by the members of NPS, their working conditions, duties and responsibilities, disrupted family life, and the potential risk they face,” said the task force in its report late 2024.
The team recommended a 40 percent salary increase for the lowest ranks, reducing progressively to three percent for officers in the highest pay grades.“The task force recommends that the new remuneration structure should be implemented in three phases from July 1, 2024,” the report added while making similar recommendations for KPS and NYS officers.
The salary increases for uniformed officers added fresh pressure on public spending at a time when the Treasury has defended tax increases as necessary to restore fiscal discipline.
Teachers also started receiving salary increments following new agreements between the Teachers Service Commission and three unions — the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers, the Kenya National Union of Teachers and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers.
The agreements granted teachers a basic salary increment of between five percent and 29.6 percent over four years beginning July 2025.
The deal is expected to cost taxpayers Sh33.8 billion over the four years, translating to an annual increase averaging about Sh8.4 billion.
Civil servants also received salary increases early this year, backdated to July 2025, following approval by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), marking the beginning of the 2025–2029 public service pay review cycle.
“The approved basic salary structure and leave allowance should be implemented with effect from July 1, 2025,” reads the December 19, 2025, SRC circular addressed to Public Service PS Jane Imbunya.
The SRC said the revised salary structure and leave allowances would cost Sh2.07 billion in the current 2025/26 financial year ending next month.
Under the review, civil servants in the highest Job Group T now earn a maximum salary of Sh396,130 from Sh365,880 previously.
Those in Job Group S received increases of up to Sh25,740, raising maximum pay to Sh292,490 from Sh266,750.
Mid-level cadres also benefited, with Job Group P officers receiving an increase of Sh9,180 to a maximum salary of Sh142,590.
Job Group N officers now earn a maximum of Sh103,440 following a Sh7,310 adjustment.Lower job groups recorded smaller but uniform increments across several salary bands in the public service.
Employees in Job Groups C to J also qualified for a standard leave allowance of Sh6,500 annually under the SRC review.
The SRC defended the review as necessary to keep public service remuneration competitive and reduce migration of experienced workers to the private sector.
The increase in salaries for workers under the National Government comes despite a long-standing policy aimed at containing the public wage bill through restrictions on recruitment.
Successive administrations since 2013 have maintained a moratorium on blanket hiring across the public service, excluding critical sectors such as security, education and healthcare.
The recruitment restrictions were intended to reduce recurrent expenditure and free up more funds for infrastructure and other development projects.
However, the swelling payroll is likely to renew scrutiny over the size of President Ruto’s administration since taking office.Dr Ruto is presiding over one of the largest executive structures since independence after increasing State departments to 57 under the broad-based government formed in 2024.
Before the youth-led anti-government protests, his administration had 51 State departments headed by principal secretaries.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta operated with 44 State departments during his tenure.
Critics argue the expansion of government has increased pressure on taxpayers at a time when the administration continues defending painful tax measures and austerity policies.
The latest payroll figures suggest a growing share of taxpayer funds is increasingly being absorbed by salaries and other recurrent expenditure.
That trend risks squeezing allocations for roads, healthcare, water projects and other capital-intensive investments.Economists have repeatedly warned that rapid growth in salaries could undermine efforts to stabilise Kenya’s public finances amid rising debt servicing costs.
The increase could also complicate ongoing negotiations with international lenders pushing Kenya to cut recurrent expenditure and improve spending efficiency.
The Treasury has recently defended additional spending through supplementary budgets, arguing some sectors faced salary shortfalls and operational funding gaps.
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