What Sh3,000 means for men and women who keep Kenya’s villages running

For decades, Kenya’s village elders have performed some of the country’s most important grassroots duties without a formal salary.

They have mobilised communities during vaccination drives, helped identify vulnerable households, supported school enrolment, and assisted in drought relief and disaster response.

Now, that long-standing arrangement is changing.

Speaking during a meeting with National Government Village Administrative Elders at State House, Nairobi, President William Ruto announced that every onboarded village elder will receive a KSh3,000 monthly facilitation beginning this month.

“Beginning this month, every onboarded village elder will receive a monthly facilitation of KSh3,000,” Ruto said.

The announcement is part of the government’s broader plan to formally recognise more than 106,000 village elders across all 47 counties within the National Government Administration system.

Anticipating debate over the payment, the President was quick to insist that the money should not be viewed as a salary or a reward for patriotism.

“This is neither payment for patriotism because patriotism cannot be bought nor is it the price of your service because that service is priceless,” he said.

He described the facilitation as the recognition of a grateful nation and practical support for the work you perform.

That distinction is significant.

By avoiding the term salary, the government appears to be positioning the Sh3,000 as a modest operational support rather than formal employment with the benefits and protections that would normally accompany a public service job.

In his remarks, Ruto acknowledged that village elders have historically carried out numerous public functions, often with little or no financial support.

He noted that they have helped mobilise communities for:

• vaccination campaigns,

• national census exercises,

• voter registration,

• school enrolment,

• drought relief,

• disaster response,

• Nyumba Kumi initiatives, and

• community policing programmes.

"It is our prayer. It is our prayer, Daktari. It is our prayer. May God give you long life. It is now 63 years down the line. No president, the fourth, the fifth one is Daktari, who could remember that there are people on the ground That is the village elders reaching the State House is very wonderful," Jacob Ojwang, Village Elder, Homa Bay County said.

For many elders, the announcement therefore represents the first formal financial acknowledgement of work that has long been treated as voluntary community service.