The Labour Day announcement of a 13.1% increase in the minimum wage will see the lowest paid workers start earning KES 8,579. To read more on this click here

While this increment will help the poor cope with the high commodity prices, how viable is it?

Most minimum wage earners work as domestic helps. A big number of Kenyans earn around KES 40,000 per month. This money is supposed to take care of kid's school fees, pay for rent, transport, food, etc. When the minimum wage is increased, the government fails to think beyond just this figure. The employer's salary remains constant and he is expected to shoulder the additional cost under previously existing conditions. It would make more sense if all participants felt this increment. This would in turn help the employers in catering for this extra cost.

A great deal of minimum wage earners also work in factories where the costs of operation are relatively high. To support such a pay increment, the employers will have no choice but to pass this additional cost to the consumers. Jacqueline Muho, the executive director of the Federation of Kenyan Employers, said companies will be forced to pass the extra employee costs to the consumers. This would in turn translate to consumers having to dig deeper into their pockets.

Is this pay increment practical

I don't think so! If you increase my salary to KES 8,579, and I still can't afford to buy what I need since commodity prices were increased so that my employer at the factory can afford to pay me, then the pay increase makes no sense. At the end of the day the minimum wage increment will have made no difference in my life.

The COTU Secretary General, Mr. Atwoli needs to stop fighting for just minimum wage increment year after year. It will not solve the problems of the minimum wage workers. He needs to go beyond this and help create a better padding for them so that employers can cater for the raise. Otherwise it makes no sense when they have extra money in their pockets at the end of the month, but the cost of products keeps going up to cater for this extra money. It is a cycle that makes no economic sense!