The Judicial Service Commission is the
only, out of 15 commissions surveyed
by the National Cohesion and Integration
Commission, that does not meet
ethnic balance in its workforce.
The NCIC said JSC violates Section 7
( 2 ) of the NCIC Act by hiring more than
a third of its workers from the same
ethnic community.
According to the survey, 39.1 per
cent of JSC’s workforce is from the Kikuyu
community, against the required
index of 33.3 per cent. The report released
yesterday says the commission’s
staff comprise 17.4 per cent from the
Kisii community, the Luo ( 13 per cent),
the Kambas and Kalenjins 8.7 per cent,
while the Luhyas, Meru and Njembs
have 4.3 per cent each.
“ The most diverse commission is
the Parliamentary Service, which has
29 ethnic communities in its staff ,”
NCIC chairman Francis ole Kaparo
said.
He said the CEOs of the surveyed
commissions are from eight ethinic
backgrounds, majority of whom are
from the Luhya community with a
26.7 per cent representation.
Kaparo, however, said the survey
indicated that public institutions with
decentralised offi ces have more ethnic
compositions in their staffing, compared
to those that have one office in
Nairobi.
He cited the Teachers Service
Commission, the Independent Electoral
and Boundaries Commission and
the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
The other commissions surveyed
in the report as at May included the
National Land Commission, the Commission
on Revenue Allocation, Commission
on Administrative Justice,
the National Cohesion and Integration
Commission, the Kenya National
Commission on Human Rights and
the Public Service Commission.
Others were the National Police Service
Commission, The National Gender
and Equality Commission, Parliamentary
Service Commission, the
Commission for the Implementation
of the Constitution and the Salaries
and Remuneration Commission.
CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW
Kaparo said their recommendations
are that the President and Parliament
should include at least one person
from the minority communities in
each appointment to a commission.
He said there is need for Parliament to
review Article 250 ( 4 ) of the Constitution
the law forming all commissions
to have appointments accommodate
all ethnic groups as opposed to reflecting
regional balance.
On parastatals, the study revealed
that this is the sub-sector with the
highest inclusion of minority communities
such as the Gosha, Waat and
Dasenach, who are rarely found in
sub-sectors such as counties, commissions,
universities and national mainstream
civil service, with less than 0.01
percentage representations.
The report said the most diverse
institution in terms of fair recruitment
on the basis of tribe is the Kenya
Ports Authority, which has recruited
staff from 34 ethnic groups. It is followed
by the Kenya Forest Service,
the Kenya Airports Authority and
the Kenya Revenue Authority, who
all have staff from 30 communities.
Overall, the Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya
and Luo account for the largest proportion,
occupying 20.62, 15.7, 15.02
and 13.89 per cent of all parastatal job
slots respectively.
Of the 185 state corporations surveyed,
129 complied with the NCIC Act
as the majority ethnic group in their
employment did not exceed 33.3 per
cent.
The report ranked Nzoia Sugar
Company, Kerio Valley Development
Authority, Tana Water Services Board
and Mumias Sugar Company as the
worst performing parastatals in regard
to complying with the NCIC Act.
The parastatals hired 89 per cent,
79.1, 76.9 and 76.8 of its employees
respectively from the communities
dominant in their areas the Luhya,
Kalenjin and Kikuyu.
On counties, the study revealed that
only 15 counties ( 31.9 per cent) have
adhered to section 65 of the County
Governments Act by giving more than
30 per cent of jobs to ethnic groups not
dominant within their areas.
“In fact, 68 per cent of the counties
have hired more than 70 per cent
of their staff from one ethnic group,”
Kaparo said.
He named Kirinyaga,
Nandi, and Nyeri as the biggest culprits
with only nine, 10 and 11 per cent
of their staff being from other communities.
“Two county assemblies, Kirinyaga
and Nandi, have recruited only one
ethnic group in the entire assembly
workforce,” Kaparo said.
The findings
revealed that only 13 assemblies
( 27.6 per cent) have recruited at least
30 per cent of their employees from
non-dominant ethnic groups.