Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) nominee Michael Thoyah Kingi has said he is not a member of any political party and was not contesting in the upcoming by-elections.

The former Magarini MP who lost in the 2022 elections after vying on Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) ticket has now been nominated as an SRC Commissioner. He is the brother to Senate Speaker, Amason Kingi.

He was vetted on Tuesday by the National Assembly Committee on Labour to determine his suitability to serve in the commission.

During the session chaired by Kilifi South MP Ken Chonga, Kingi was tasked to explain how he will deal with the issue of ghost workers in the public service if approved to serve in the SRC.

“There is a by-election coming in Magarini and from what I know is that your name is on the ballot. Can you speak to the correct position about that? Again, from experience and academic qualification, you are an engineer but you are being vetted for a position of being a commissioner with SRC. How is your engineering background going to assist you with the commission, which is purely dealing with salaries and remuneration?” Posed Chonga.

But Kingi said his name is neither on the ballot nor is he contesting for in the Magarini by-election.

“My name is not in the ballot. I think those who will be on the ballot have already submitted their nomination papers. In fact, I do not belong to any political party. So, no worries at all. For now, I’ll not be on the ballot,” he told the committee.

But Muhoroni MP James Oyoo said: “The engineer has informed this committee that he is not a member of any political party. To the best of my knowledge, he contested in the 2022 elections and must have been a member of a political party that presented his candidature. So, I do not know at what point he became a non-member. Now that he is not contesting, is when he believes he is not a member, there is a process you must take to exterminate your name out of the membership.”

Kingi responded: “As we sit here today, I’m not a member of a political party. I decided on my own volition that I needed a break…I decided to take a break from politics and followed the right channel through the office of the Registrar of Political Parties to make sure that they remove my name from the party to which I belonged. So, I can assure you, that I don’t belong to any political party today.”

He was also asked to explain the experience he would bring to SRC, given that he was once a victim when he served as an MP and lost Sh250,000 in allowances.

Kingi was tasked to speak to the relationship between SRC and Parliament, given the strained relations the two institutions had several years ago.

He said that communication with stakeholders is critical before a decision that will affect them is taken.

“I believe the commission doesn’t do things at its own discretion. It is being guided by the law. Whatever the Sarah Serem led commission did was within the law and if I go there, I’ll be strictly guided by the law. Whatever belongs to members, they will have it, but guided by the law. Though sometimes it’s painful because I felt it, losing 250,000. But because there’s a law that directs SRC, I think I will abide by that,” he told the committee.

Given the role and the mandate that is given to the commission through Article 230, Kingi said he would endeavour to give sound advice to the government in terms of the remuneration and benefits of public and state officers.

He said his aim is to make sure that there is a balance between the revenue of the government and what goes as wages for the public and state officers, with the goal being to bring the wage bill from 48 per cent to that 35 per cent.

“Although this is not something that can be achieved in a day, it is just to make sure that with the correct advice from the commission and putting very good strategies, I think we can be there or just almost there,” he stated.

Asked what he brings to SRC, by virtue of being an engineer, Kingi said his profession is critical because it involves using data.

“We always analyse data. But data based on evidence to arrive at very critical decisions. I believe that is exactly what is happening with SRC. SRC uses data through job evaluation and frequent labor market surveys. This data is what informs SRC whether to increase or stagnate allowance or do anything. With all this, I think I fit very well. I’m good at analyzing data. And that should inform me of a better position in SRC,” he insisted.

Kisii County Representative, Doris Donya said the country has been facing the ghost workers nightmare and sought to know what mechanisms Kingi would put in place to address the issue and promotion of public officers.

“If there’s one monster that is traumatising the government, it is the issue of the salaries which are paid to non-existent workers. I know from where you sit, you may not be able to identify, but I think at the same time, being the pay masters, you have an obligation to it. So, in your own thinking, how are you going to conceptualise and come up with, even if it is not a solution, but an approach to solving the problem of ghost workers?” Posed Donya.

Kingi said SRC needs to coordinate with Public Service Commission and integrate human resource data.

“That is very key, because unless you have a digital platform, a dashboard where there is a joint information that brings up all the human resource and the pay, once you do that, it will be very easy for SRC to do follow-up, especially on ghost workers. Another thing is to make sure that the payrolls are audited. It will also be very easy for us to identify and root out ghost workers.”