• The Public Service Commission is grappling with a funding crisis in its bid to hire 33,792.
• The State Department says it urgently needs Sh15.6 billion to hire 26,792 employees at entry grades of the civil service at Sh12.1 billion and 7,000 to join the Prisons Service at Sh3.5 billion.
The Public Service Commission is grappling with a funding crisis in its bid to hire 33,792 employees.
The State Department says it urgently needs Sh15.6 billion to hire 26,792 employees at entry grades of the civil service at Sh12.1 billion and 7,000 to join the Prisons Service at Sh3.5 billion.
Already there are 17,214 vacant slots in the civil service and 4,080 in the Prisons Service.
Some 22,981 civil servants are due for promotion at Sh3.7 billion. A total of 11,761 Prisons Service workers are also due for promotion. This will cost Sh1.2 billion.
The margin is factoring the outcome of the second job evaluation, staff transfers to other departments, retirement, and desertions.
Principal Administrative Secretary at the PSC Mary Kimonye told a group of MPs that the vacancies are a result of an ageing workforce.
Kimonye appealed to the MPs Committee on Administration and National Security chaired by Kiambaa MP Paul Koinange to find them the cash.
The filling of the slots may run into headwinds due to a Sh5.2 billion shortfall in PSC's budget for 2019/20. The employer needs Sh15.2 billion to kick-start key recurrent and development expenses but has been allocated Sh9.9 billion.
MPs teams are expected to present final estimates to the Budget Committee tomorrow.
The Kimani Ichung'wa team will table the reviewed costings on June 4. The budget review session was on Thursday in Parliament.
Data from the National Treasury shows 59,400 of the 500,000 public servants will retire by June 2020. A large number of those who will retire are senior bureaucrats, management and technical cadres.
The government may be forced to retain some staff beyond retirement age because of their unique expertise.
The PSC also needs Sh1.5 billion to hire 5,000 interns for a number of state agencies.
“There is a need to urgently strengthen the public service through succession management to fill existing capacity gaps,” Kimonye said.
She told the legislators that the effort would address performance management, productivity and morale.
“The succession management would address youth unemployment through recruitment of young officers at entry grades and engagement of interns.”
MPs Makali Mulu (Kitui Central), John Waluke (Sirisia), Aduma Owuor (Nyakach), Ahmed Kolosh (Wajir East), Didmus Barasa (Kimilili), Arbelle Malimo (Laisamis), Josphat Kabinga (Mwea), Abdi Shurie (Balambala) are members of the committee.
But in the face of the funding gaps, the Public Service secretary warned of disrupted services especially at Huduma centres over unpaid pending bills.
Rent for the Huduma Centre at Teleposta (GPO) of Sh40 million is due as well as that of Mombasa and Eastleigh at Sh10 million. The expenses were incurred after the Postal Corporation of Kenya vacated the premises.
Also outstanding is Sh180 million owed to Safaricom, Telkom, and Access Kenya for internet connectivity at the centres.
There is a 2018/19 budget shortfall of Sh230 million for works and contracts for the Huduma secretariat.
“The bills are likely to lead to the closure of some centres, and withdrawal of critical utilities leading to disruption in service delivery,” Kimonye said.
There is also a fear that the rent for public service offices at Kencom, Lonhro House, Uchumi House, and Teleposta will rise to over Sh350 million.
The Public Service alone pays Sh230 million a year rent for the premises which also house the ICT, Housing and Public Works ministries.
In this regard, the department is seeking Parliament’s approval to buy a building to house the ministry in order to cut costs.
“We propose to buy Teleposta that houses a large number of government departments and the Huduma Centre,” Kimonye said.
Kitui Central’s Makali advised that cost-benefit analysis, of how rent compares to buying a building, should be done.
The Treasury has denied the department Sh1.2 billion for provision of enhanced medical cover premiums for staff in Job Groups A – I.
This will render the staff in the categories to only access medical care in facilities within their deployment.
In the next financial year, the public service says it will focus on the completion of works at the Kenya School of Government campuses in Mombasa, Embu, Baringo, and Murang’a.
Kimonye sought approval for completion of Mombasa ultra-modern complex (Sh373 million); construction of the same works in Matuga (Sh40 million), Baringo (Sh49 million) and Embu (Sh47 million).
The expansion plans are part of the Vision 2030 goals. The KSG was one of the key flagship projects.
MPs said the schools should think of a sustainable strategy in the management of remittances to government as appropriation in aid.
The public service department also needs Sh98 million for upgrading the Government Human Resource Information System (GHRIS).
The system will help deal with cases of public servants earning from two payrolls and also to rid the public service of ghost workers.
It will generate unique numbers for each public servant for the national government, ministries, and county governments.
Kimonye told the MPs that the system will be linked to the National Registration Bureau, Kenya Revenue Authority, Ifmis, Pensions department, and a number of key government institutions.
“This is underpinned on the need for the clear identity of each public servant with only one unique identifier throughout their stay in the public service,” she said.
The platform would enable state agencies to share consistent records of a worker’s employment history for ease of tracking and for audit.