More than one million public servants will have to wait another month before receiving their expected salary increase after the government pushed the implementation date from July 1 to August 1, Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has announced.
The change means teachers, county government employees, staff in state corporations and other public officers will begin earning the revised salaries and higher commuter allowances from August instead of July as earlier communicated.
Speaking during a public function in Londiani, Kericho County on Wednesday, Ruku assured workers that the salary review remains on course and that the changes will apply to both basic salaries and key allowances.
“The pay increase will be increased, and the commute allowance will be increased from August 1, so that all the civil servants in the Republic of Kenya can be able to continue earning a salary increment,” he said.
The announcement marks a shift from the timeline Ruku had given during the Public Service Week celebrations at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), where he had said the new salaries would take effect on July 1.
Ruku said the review was ordered by President William Ruto as part of the government's efforts to improve the welfare of public servants across the country.
He added that the changes will not be limited to basic salaries but will also cover housing and commuter allowances, giving workers a wider pay increase.
“President William Ruto and his government are increasing the salaries of all public servants... It will be gross pay, housing allowance, and commuter allowance,” Ruku said, adding that the salary review was first announced in January and backdated to July 2025.
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission estimates that the package will benefit about 1,054,400 public servants. They include employees under the Teachers Service Commission, county governments and state corporations, as well as about 124,000 officers employed on permanent and pensionable terms.
At the same event, Ruku renewed his directive requiring all government institutions to move their payroll systems to the government's Human Resource Information System (HRIS).
He warned that institutions that fail to complete the migration could face delays in processing salaries for their employees.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, the digital payroll platform is meant to remove ghost workers from the public service and improve accountability in the use of public funds.
Ruku said only public officers whose details have been verified and captured in the HRIS database will qualify for the upcoming salary increase, adding that the government is determined to close gaps that have allowed fraudulent salary payments over the years.
The salary review follows President William Ruto's directive issued on June 23, 2026, during the Public Service Week celebrations at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, where the government ordered a review of salaries and allowances for all public servants, including housing and commuter allowances.