KENYA
Kenya’s Public Service Commission (PSC) is grappling with a seemingly insurmountable problem: it desperately needs to hire thousands of workers to replace retirees in its ageing workforce, but it does not have enough money to do so.
The PSC says it urgently needs KES12.1 billion (A$17 million) to begin the hiring of more than 20,000 employees at entry grades of the Public Service and KES3.5 billion (A$5 million) to begin recruiting 7,000 officers to join the Prisons Service.
Principal Administrative Secretary at the PSC, Mary Kimonye (pictured) said there were already 17,214 vacant positions in the Public Service and 4,080 in the Prisons Service.
Ms Kimonye appealed to MPs on the Committee on Administration and National Security to find more money.
“We have to kickstart this process but so far we have been allocated only KES9.9 billion [A$14 million],” Ms Kimonye said.
“There is a need to urgently strengthen the Public Service through succession management to fill existing capacity gaps.”
She said succession management would address youth unemployment through recruitment of young officers at entry grades and engagement of interns.
Data from the National Treasury shows 59,400 of the country’s 500,000 PS employees will have retired by June 2020.
A large number of these are senior bureaucrats, managers and technical cadres.
The Government may be forced to retain some staff beyond retirement age because of their expertise.
Nairobi, 27 May 2019
