Civil servants in Kenya have been asked to brace themselves for upcoming salary delays.

According to National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u, the government is in a financial fix and does not have anywhere to get more funds to meet timely salary payments.

“The national government is caught between two extremes; high level of debt financing and financing constraints due to limited access to finance in the domestic and international financial market,” said Prof Ndung’u.

He made the remarks barely days after revelations that thousands of civil servants including Members of Parliament, parastatal workers and employees of the national broadcaster KBC went on Easter holiday without their March salaries.

The only group of workers that has received their salaries comprises members of the armed forces and the police service, and teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission.

Every month, the National Treasury requires about Sh. 50 billion monthly for civil servants’ salaries and another Sh. 8 billion for payment of pensions.

In the wake of the salary delays, Professor David Ndii who is a lead economic adviser of President William Ruto bluntly revealed that Kenyans would have to contend with either debt repayments or timely salary payments.

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Ndii said that the government is currently being forced to decide whether to service debt or pay salaries.

The delayed salaries have brought to the fore the dire economic situation that the country has found itself in even as the government concentrates its effort on blaming the previous government without any sign of a solution in sight.