Six tribes take up more than half of all public sector jobs - Report

A biometric registration of civil servants has revealed glaring disparities in ethnic composition of the workforce both in the national and county public service.

The details captured in the Capacity Assessment and Rationalisation of the Public Service report exclusively seen by the Sunday Nation show that 77 per cent of all public service positions are held by six communities.

Although the Public Service Commission (PSC) says deliberate efforts have been put in place to ensure the civil service has a face of Kenya, the report has exposed the existing inequalities in sharing of national opportunities in the public service

This means that the rest of the tribes are left with 23 per cent positions to fight for.

The total number of employees captured in the national government was 72,923.

The report, which was prepared by the intergovernmental steering committee for capacity assessment and rationalisation of the public service, did a breakdown of all ethnic groups.

Out of those, the report states, the Kikuyu community has the lion’s share of the total number of employees in the civil service at 18,617.

This is more than a quarter of the total number of employees in the national government and twice as much as the Luhya community which has 12.2 per cent (8,822) of the total workforce.

The Kalenjin comes in third with 8,275 employees which is equivalent to 11.4 per cent of the total workforce.

The Luo, Kamba and Kisii tribes each have a representation of 10.4 per cent, 10.3 per cent and 8 per cent in that order.

Other tribes that make up the top 10 of the ethnic groups within the national government civil service include the Embu with 1.9 per cent, the Mijikenda with 2.3 per cent and the Maasai with 1.4 per cent.

There is only one employee in government from each of the Ribe, Kambe and Kenyan European tribes.

The census of 2009 showed that the Kikuyu comprised 16.48 per cent of the total population while the Luhya represented 13.28 per cent and Kalenjin 12.36 per cent.

“It is important for the recruitment policy of civil servants at the national government level to cater for ethnic balance as per the aspirations of the Constitution, specifically Article 232 on values and principles of public service,” the report reads.

In the counties, the Kikuyu have the highest number of employees at 27,947 which translates to 22 per cent, while the Kalenjin are second with 18,623 employees.

The Luhya are third with 15,198 employees which is equivalent to 13.28 per cent and the Luo fourth with 12,340 employees while the Kisii are fifth with 10,208 and the Kamba with 9,732 workers.

The total number of employees who were captured biometrically in the counties is 126,998 whose ethnic composition analysis reveals that 15 tribes have a workforce of more than 1,000.

The ethnic groups with the fewest number of employees include Dasnach-Shangil and Kenyan-European with two employees each. The Elmolo ethnic group has four employees while the Ribe has six. Only 12 tribes have less than 30 employees.

The report also states that there are counties where minorities or external groups constitute a higher proportion of the public service employees. One such county is Marsabit county.

“Counties with comparatively limited numbers of local public service employees from dominant local ethnic group should, with the support of the national government, develop and implement programmes to accelerate human capacity development among disadvantaged ethnic groups,” the report recommends.
Prof Margaret Kobia, the chairperson of PSC, says ethnicity is one of the key factors considered when hiring civil servants and in the past, deliberate measures have been put in place to ensure the public service has a face of Kenya.

“We always strive to have all tribes well represented in the civil service. Over the years, we have made great strides to reduce the gap in terms of ethnic representation,” Prof Kobia told the Sunday Nation on Friday.

In the 2013/2014 financial year, the Government hired 2,211 people.

Out of those employed individuals from the Kalenjin community secured 454 government jobs followed by those from the Kikuyu community with 412.

The Luhya (404) were third and the Luo (381) at fourth place. The Kamba and Kisii communities had 161 and 145 respectively.