Happening Now: Labour Day celebrations 2025
House Speaker Moses Wetang’ula granted a request to suspend consideration of a Bill on the waivers.
A parliamentary committee is expected to table a report next month on the status of employment of different ethnic communities in the public service, including those not represented.
The National Assembly committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunities has been mandated to produce the report on the various communities that are not employed, those promoted and level of employment in all ministries, departments and government agencies in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years.
The detailed report, requested by Mandera South MP Abdul Haro, is also expected to include the communities that are over-represented, under-represented and not represented at all in the civil service.
Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang'ula has instructed the committee chaired by Mandera West MP Adan Haji to submit its report on the matter within the first week of the resumption of Parliament.
The National Assembly will go on a long recess next week and resume on May 26, 2025. In requesting the report, Mr Haro said one of the core functions of the Public Service Commission (PSC) under Article 234 of the Constitution is to ensure equal opportunities for all ethnic groups in the public service.
The regulations, gazetted last year, are designed to ensure that public institutions take affirmative action to include under-represented communities in their organisations.
The chairperson Teachers Service Commission Dr Jamleck Muturi (Left) Chief Executive Officer Dr Nancy Macharia and lawyer Calvin Anyuor before the National Assembly Committee on Education at the Bunge Tower Nairobi on April 15, 2025.
The main thrust of the regulations is to provide a framework for ensuring equitable representation of ethnic communities in the public service. Mr Haro argues that the Constitution under Articles 10 and 232 mandates the Commission to ensure that public institutions have equitable representation of all ethnic communities in the public service in proportion to their share of the national population.
Mr Haro now wants the PSC to provide a report on the national population share of each of the 46 ethnic communities, indicating the ethnic communities whose representation in the civil service is proportionate to their national share.
Dominant tribes
A report tabled in Parliament in March by the Committee on National Cohesion and Equity revealed that the Kikuyus and Kalenjins dominate top cadre positions in State agencies, leaving the rest to scramble for the few available slots, according to a report tabled in Parliament.
The report, which was compiled after a series of meetings by the various heads of state agencies, shows that Kalenjins and Kikuyus make up the bulk of employees in all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
The Standing Orders and Constitution Committee is also mandated to review the ethnic composition of their employees to determine whether it complies with Section 7 of the National Cohesion and Integration Act which states that "no public institution shall employ more than one-third of its staff from the same ethnic community".
Section 7(1) and (2) of the Act states that all public offices shall seek to represent the diversity of the people of Kenya in the recruitment of staff and that no public office shall have more than one-third of its staff from the same ethnic community.
Article 10 of the Constitution, which deals with the values and principles of the public service, speaks of the representation of Kenya's diverse communities, giving them adequate and equal opportunities for appointment, training and promotion at all levels of the public service.
Equal opportunities should also be provided to all men and women, members of all ethnic groups and persons with disabilities.
The report will detail the appointments and promotions made during the tenure of President William Ruto and his former deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
President Ruto was sworn in in September 2022, three months into the 2022/23 financial year.
Mr Gachagua sparked debate during his tenure when he publicly referred to the Kenya Kwanza administration as a shareholding company, saying only those who voted for it were entitled to jobs in government.
