It
is the reason why two people on the same assignment but in different areas earn
differently. It is the reason behind discrepancies in payment of salaries and
allowances.
So
which are these towns called others by TSC and PSC? A qiuck answer is that the
areas called others constitute of both gazetted hardship areas and other
ordinary towns/ areas. Therefore, a teacher or a civil servant could be working
in a hardship area but since the area is considered as “Other” by either TSC or
PSC, the worker ends up earning a lower amount of allowance.
Picture
this, a town such as Bungoma is considered as “Other”. Mandera town on the
other hand is also considered as “Other.” Now, don’t confuse it. Mandera is a gazetted
hardship area. However, when it comes to payment of house allowance, travel
allowance and commuter allowance, the payments will be made under the third
cluster that has Mandera as “Other town.” So a worker in Bungoma and Mandera will
earn the same amount. The only allowance that will distinguish the two is the hardship
allowance. The one in Mandera County will earn while the other in Bungoma won’t
earn. Nonetheless, the hardship allowance is just too small to properly
remunerate the worker in the Mandera.
The
payment of allowances by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Public
Service Commission (PSC) are based on clusters. Teachers in towns in cluster 1
earn the highest allowances while those in towns/ areas in cluster 3 earn the
lowest allowances. Towns/ areas in cluster 3 are refreed to as “Others.”
Cluster 1
Cluster 1 constitutes of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Malindi,
Kilifi, Naivasha, Kwale and Lamu. In this first cluster, you need to take note
of Naivasha. You will earn more in allowances if you work in Naivasha than a
person who is working in mandera or Isiolo or even Turkana.
Cluster 2
Cluster is composed of the
following 10 towns/areas; Eldoret, Nyeri, Kericho, Kisii, Kakamega, Embu,
Nanyuki, Turkana, Nakuru and Garissa. Now in this cluster, take note of Nakuru.
Naivasha is located within Nakuru County and so the allowances are less if you
are in Nakuru town.
Cluster 3
The third cluster comprises of
towns/ areas that are referred to as “Others”. This cluster attracts the lowest
allowances. This is the cluster where several teachers and civil servants will
find themselves in. The big problem here is the fact that this cluster has
several hardship areas whereby one could have expected to earn highly in terms
of allowances.
The
towns/ areas cluster 3 (Others) are;
- Bungoma.
- Vihiga.
- Busia.
- Migori.
- Homa
Bay.
- Siaya.
- Nyamira.
- Narok.
- Uasin
Gishu (Exclusing Eldoret Town which is in cluster 2).
- Trans-Nzoia.
- Nandi.
- Bomet.
- Kajiado.
- Baringo
(Remember that areas such as Tiaty and Marigat are hardship areas).
- West
Pokot.
- Samburu
(This is a hardship area that has been placed under “Others).
- Laikipia.
- Elgeyo.
- Nyandarua.
- Kirinyaga.
- Murang’a.
- Kiambu.
- Marsabit.
- Isiolo.
- Meru.
- Tharaka
Nithi.
- Kitui.
(Kitui is a bit dry and you won’t earn much in spite of the thirst).
- Machakos.
- Makueni.
- Isiolo.
(A person working in Busia and Isiolo earns the same).
- Tana
River. (Several parts of Tana River are hard to access by road but you won’t
earn much in allowances anyway).
- Taita
Taveta.
- Wajir.
(Your house allowance in Wajir will be similar to that of your colleague in Nyandarua).
- Mandera.
Formula used in categorizing
the towns
There
is no clear formula that was used to classify the above towns/areas/counties
into the three clusters. The classification was simply done through
approximation of the expenses that a person living in a given area can incur. There
is no law over which the clustering was pegged on.
Several
parastatals have adopted the above clusters in paying allowances to its
workers. The discrepancies in the way the clusters were made is one of the
reasons why drivers of parastatals sometime show reluctance when asked to drive
to certain areas due to the low amount of allowances that they will earn.