Ruto cabinet
President William Ruto and his Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to forego their one- month salary in order to fund drought relief efforts across the country.
The Head Of State and his Cabinet made the bold move just days after the government launched a pay bill number and urged Kenyans to contribute a portion of their salaries to help alleviate the drought.
According to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) a Cabinet Secretary is entitled to a gross salary of Ksh 924, 000.
The Cabinet Ministers are paid a basic salary of Ksh554,400, a house allowance of Ksh200,000, and a market adjustment of Ksh169,600 per month. This is the same as the salary of Attorney General Justin Muturi.
President William Ruto, on the other hand, takes home Ksh 1, 443, 750 per month, while his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, is paid Ksh 1, 227, 188.
The Cabinet, which includes the president, his deputy, 22 Cabinet Secretaries, and the Attorney General, will forego approximately Ksh 23,922, 938 to aid the drought crisis.
The Tuesday Cabinet meeting also discussed methods of lowering the high cost of living and food prices.
A 2- kilogram packet of maize flour, for instance costs between Ksh180 and Ksh210. Furthermore, maize prices have reached an all- time high, with a 90 kg bag costing Ksh 6,000.
To put it into perspective, Ksh 23 million can buy approximately 3, 987 bags of maize. Assuming a 50kg bag of fertilizer costs Ksh 3, 500, the Ksh 23 million would purchase up to 6, 571 bags and distribute them to farmers across the country.
According to the National Drought Management Authority’ s (NDMA) most recent report, 3. 5 million Kenyans will face starvation by the end of April 2022. This represented a 400, 000 increase over February 2022.
The government has since resorted to methods of mitigating the devastation caused by the drought, such as distributing relief food to the most affected counties.
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