Commissions and Parliament targeted in jobs shake-up plan

A government circular on proposed staff rationalisation indicates the programme could be expanded to all public bodies, including Parliament and the semi-autonomous commissions and independent offices.

The circular addressed to all Principal Secretaries and county executive committee members states that while the initial phase only targets mainstream civil servants in the national and county governments and state corporations, subsequent phases will go beyond that. 

The programme, known as the Capacity Assessment and Rationalisation of the Public Service (CARPS), will be carried out because of prevailing national and constitutional imperatives, according to the circular from the Ministry of Devolution dated June.

It will result in a “leaner, efficient and responsive” public service. The circular goes on to assure civil servants that none of them will be retrenched.

“It is reiterated that the objective of this exercise is not to cut jobs but to enhance public servants’ performance and job satisfaction as well as service delivery for the benefit of all Kenyans,” the circular states.

“Initially, the programme will cover the public service at the national and county levels of government and is expected to be finalised in the 2014/2015 financial year. A similar rationalisation process is ongoing in the state corporations and will be extended to the rest of the public service in subsequent phases,” the circular states, signalling that the semi-autonomous commissions and independent offices could be roped into the programme.

In the recent past there have been proposals to reduce the number of commissioners on the 10 independent commissions established by the 2010 Constitution. Each has a minimum nine commissioners and a separate secretariat.

They include the Kenya National Human Rights Commission and the Gender and Equality Commission that was hived from it, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, National Land Commission, Parliamentary Service Commission, Judicial Service Commission, Commission on Revenue Allocation, Public Service Commission, Salaries and Remuneration Commission, Teachers’ Service Commission and the National Police Service Commission.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is also expected to appoint eight commissioners to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) from a list of 15 forwarded to him last week by the National Assembly. The NCIC was created after the 2007/08 post-election violence to foster peaceful co-existence. In addition, the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman) was also created by the 2010 Constitution.    

The commissions have been seen as huge spenders, and debate on public wage bill management has tended toward reducing commissioners to three for each body.  

According to performance management consultant Dr James Wanjagi, the semi-autonomous and autonomous bodies that could be included in this list are Parliament, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Kenya Institute of Public Policy and Research Analysis, National Coordinating Agency for Population Development, Constituency Development Fund and Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat.

Dr Wanjagi contends that the government could also be targeting staff at the Kenya Revenue Authority, Public Procurement and Oversight Authority, Privatisation Commission, Kenya Investment Authority, Competition Authority, Kenya Institute of Supplies Management, Kenya School of Government and Kenya Trade Network Agency.

“Regardless of who is included in this circular, this is a mammoth undertaking by any stretch of imagination. Think about this: The public service payroll by itself boasts at least 300,000 workers,” he said, adding that a proper labour rationalisation plan and programme, based on detailed and reliable information on the workforce and the economy, should be designed at the outset.

Public Service Commission chair Margaret Kobia told the Sunday Nation the exercise is not geared towards retrenching public servants but to ensure the equitable distribution of personnel and skills across the government.

“Once the report is ready, we will decide what people to move to different areas. If we find a public servant who still has more years to retirement but his skills are below those expected, the idea is to train them. Those who are about to retire will just be left to finish their terms,” said Prof Kobia.

COUNTER PRODUCTIVE

According to Prof Kobia, the idea of retrenchment has been discarded because the government discovered that previous layoffs ended up being counter-productive by lowering staff morale as well as failing to achieve the intended equitable redistribution of staff among ministries and departments.

“Retrenchment is not in the picture. Instead, the government will rely on natural attrition and retirement to manage its workforce,” she said, signalling the likelihood of a freeze on employment.

In a confidential document titled A Strategy for Staff Rationalisation in the Civil Service (May 2013), then acting Principal Secretary in the Ministry of State for Public Service Njoki Kahiga also strongly advised against retrenchment given the cost to the Exchequer in form of golden handshakes and possible legal suits.

“The staff that were retrenched or retired under Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme came together and took the government to court. Many of these cases are still ongoing. The government should, therefore, as much as possible, use other options and only take voluntary retirement of staff as a last resort,” the report stated.

Ms Kahiga has also cautioned that retrenchment would have untold psycho-social impacts on the affected staff.

Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru on May 2 gazetted a six-tier team at the national and counties that will oversee the CARPS Programme (Kenya Gazette Vol. CXVI – No. 56).
At the apex is the Inter-Governmental Steering Committee whose main tasks are, first, to provide policy direction, and second, to oversee the implementation of the programme. 

Members of this body are the PSs from Devolution ministry, National Treasury and Labour, chairpersons of Council of Governors (CoG), the PSC, Salaries and Remuneration Commission and Commission for Revenue Allocation.

Other members are chairpersons of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution, Transition Authority, the Attorney-General and the chairperson of the Human Resource and Social Welfare Committee of CoG.