Murkomen details reasons govt will not proceed with village elders’ monthly pay plan
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has revealed that the government will not move forward with plans to put village elders on a monthly salary, citing financial constraints and potential policy abuse.
Speaking in Trans Nzoia on Monday, July 28, 2025, Murkomen said he had completed the policy framework concerning village elders and that it was now under his review before being presented to the Cabinet.
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However, he noted that while the intentions were noble, paying all village elders a monthly wage was not feasible due to the sheer number of individuals involved.
“I am done with the policy on village elders, and it is now on my table. It is related to this engagement we also have. After that, I will take it to the Cabinet, and then we will agree. Because we have almost 150,000 village elders, paying them a salary will not be possible,” he said.
Instead, Murkomen proposed a modest support model that includes provisions such as airtime, protective gear like gumboots, and allowances for basic expenses incurred in the course of their work.
“We can only look for something small for airtime or to buy gumboots or pay for the Social Health Authority (SHA). Let us face it that way. Otherwise, when we tell Kenyans that we will leave young Kenyans – Gen Zs who are on the streets protesting – just so we can give elders a salary, they will not agree,” he added.
The Cabinet Secretary warned that implementing a full pay plan without a clear and verifiable policy would open the door to exploitation, as many people might falsely claim to be village elders for personal gain.
“Now that we have the policy, a lot of people will emerge calling themselves village elders when they were not. That is Kenya’s biggest challenge. Right now, someone is working voluntarily and is not even an elder, but the moment we introduce even a small airtime allowance, they suddenly become a village elder,” he said.
Murkomen also raised concern over the ambiguous definition of what qualifies as a village, arguing that this would further complicate the implementation of any financial plan targeting grassroots leadership.
“So what is a village becomes another problem,” he said, adding that the new policy would also seek to address these grey areas.
In addition to the village elders’ framework, the Interior CS said the government was working in collaboration with the Public Service Commission to review terms of service and career progression structures for security enforcers and chiefs, who operate alongside village elders in community-level governance.
“You should not worry. We are working on it to see what can be done, including for village elders,” Murkomen assured.
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Steve Ireri
Steve is a senior writer with over four years of experience in digital journalism. His focus is on the showbiz and human interest stories. Emails: [email protected] , [email protected]
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