Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya and Luo dominate public service jobs

The most five populous communities – Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya, Luo and Kamba – dominate the top public service jobs, a new report has shown.

The report tabled before the Senate National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity Committee on Thursday also showed 15 communities are not represented at all in top civil service jobs.

 The National Cohesion and Integration Act states: “No public establishment shall have more than one third of its staff from the same ethnic community.”

Public Service CS Margaret Kobia who tabled the report said the top cadre positions are in job groups T and above and their equivalents in state corporations and agencies.

Kobia named them as head of public service, Cabinet Secretaries, chief administrative secretaries, principal secretaries, principal administrative secretaries, directors general, chief executive officers and heads.

There are 416 government ministries and state departments, 61 missions and embassies and 286 parastatals and corporations.

Some 417 officers occupy senior level management positions in ministries and state departments. among them 22 CSs, 26 CASs and 42 PSs. The data shows the top five communities hold 266 of the positions.

Some 170 kikuyus, 87 Kalenjins, 56 Luhyas, 72 Luos and 41 Kambas hold senior positions in, ministries, departments, parastatals and embassies.

In the ministries, there are four Kikuyu Cabinet Secretaries, five chief administrative secretaries (CASs) and 12 principal secretaries (PSs).

Four Kalenjins are CSs, three are CASs and seven PSs. Luos have two CS positions, two CASs and five PSs.

There are two Luhya CSs, one CAS and three PSs. There is a Kamba CS, two hold CASs and two are PSs in the Jubilee government.

The scenario puts President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto on the spot over skewed ethnic appointments. The President hails from the Kikuyu community while his deputy is Kalenjin.

ODM boss Raila Odinga who occupied the position of prime minister and Wiper boss Kalonzo Musyoka, who served as vice president, come from the Luo and Kamba communities, respectively.

In the state corporations, the report indicates that the five communities occupy 125 out of 180 positions of CEO. The 180 CEOs come from 42 of the 47 counties.

According to the report, 35 out of 52 embassies that have office holders are occupied by people from the five communities. Kenya has 61 embassies but some do not have heads.

Cumulatively, the Kikuyu is the single community with the highest number of people occupying senior government positions, followed by Kalenjins and Luos.

According to the report, other communities that dominate civil service jobs are Kisii, Meru, Masai and Mijikenda, Embu, Borana, Teso, Kuria and Mbeere.

Kobia presented the report Thursday to the Senate National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity Committee chaired by nominated ODM Senator Naomi Shiyonga.

The detailed report reveals the communities, counties and the names of people holding the top government positions.

It was produced following a request by Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala to the ministry through the committee.

On Thursday, Kobia assured that all the public sector agencies have developed plans to address diversity gaps progressively.

“Programmes for diversity and inclusivity call for deliberate and concerted efforts by all stakeholders including the Public Service Commission, state corporations and county governments,” she said.

Kobia said she sought the information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from the State Corporations’ Advisory Committee.

“The data was received from the Government Integrated Personnel Payroll Data system (IPPD) as at June 2020 for administered payroll of ministries,” Kobia said.

The CS noted that ethnic representation in the service is examined against the corresponding national population proportion.

The report further showed most of the occupiers of the lucrative government positions hail from Uhuru and Ruto'sbackyards of Central region and Rift Valley.

The majority of them come from Kiambu – the President’s home county – and Muranga, Nyeri, Uasin Gishu (Ruto’s home county), Nandi, Kericho, Kakamega, Kajiado, Kisumu and Kitui.

Kiambu has the highest number of people in senior positions in government ministries, parastatals and embassies, followed by Muranga’a and Nyeri.

The report comes at the time the country is angling for a plebiscite to change the Constitution to fix among others, discrimination in public appointments.

The Constitution, National Cohesion and Integration Act and the Employment Act emphasise inclusivity in public appointments.

The National Cohesion and Integration Act Cap. No. 12 of 200, Section 7 states that all public establishments shall seek to represent the diversity of the people of Kenya in the employment of staff.

The Employment Act Cap 226. Section 5 (3) states: No employer shall discriminate or harass an employee or prospective employee – a) on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, nationality, ethnic or social origin, disability, pregnancy, mental status or HIV.

Kobia said that in the recent years, there has been greater representation of ethnic communities in the public service.

She cited the 'Public Service Commission December 2019 Evaluation Report on the Status of Public Service Compliance with Values and Principles' report to support the claim.  

“Further deliberate measures have been put in place to ensure the face of Kenya is reflected in all the public institutions at all levels,” she added.

(edited by o. owino)