A judge has criticised the Kenyan Public Service Commission (PSC) for failing to manage succession plans and instead opting to retain Public Servants who have attained the mandatory retirement age.
Employment and Labour Relations Judge, Maureen Onyango (pictured) said although the law allowed the PSC to extend contracts to Public Servants with special skills who had reached 60 years, this had been prone to abuse and hindered upward mobility for junior officers.
She was ruling in the case of Stephen Ochieng who had sued the PSC for extending the term of Director of Land Administration, Edward Kosgey, Mr Kosgey was supposed to retire on 1 July, 2019.
In her judgement, Justice Onyango said that Mr Kogsey’s contract had since lapsed, so the orders sought were redundant — and anyway there was nothing unlawful in what had taken place.
“However, this window is vulnerable to abuse and could be used to reward loyalists or keep cronies in the Public Service at the expense of qualified persons,” Justice Onyango said.
“I commend the petitioner for his valiant efforts in keeping the Public Service on its toes to ensure that values are adhered to and there are succession plans to meet the progressive requirements of the Constitution,” she said.
The judge said the PSC had not demonstrated that it had made efforts to find qualified persons within and outside the Public Service through a competitive process in good time.
“The request for engagement of Kosgey therefore seems to be a knee jerk reaction to poor succession management,” Justice Onyango said.
Nairobi, 25 August 2020
