Police officers guarding the entrance to the Bomet County headquarters. Bomet is one of the notorious counties flagged for having almost an entire workforce made up of only individuals from dominant communities.
You are unlikely to get employed in Bomet, Homa Bay, Samburu, Elgeyo Marakwet and Kirinyaga Counties if you are not from the dominant ethnic community, a report has revealed.
The damning report by the Senate National Cohesion Committee has laid bare how county governments have been turned into tribal employment bureaus, further deepening the diversity crisis in the country.
Painting a grim picture of how counties are turning into ethnic enclaves, Bomet, Homa Bay, Samburu, Elgeyo Marakwet and Kirinyaga Counties have been flagged for having almost an entire workforce made up of only individuals from dominant communities in the areas, who account for at least 96 percent of the workforce.
Governor Hillary Barchok’s Bomet County leads the way with a workforce made up of 97.28 percent Kalenjins, Homa Bay follows with staff made up of 96.98 percent Luos, Samburu County is next with 96.65 percent of its employees being Samburus, Elgeyo Marakwet has the number at 96.22 percent Kalenjins, while 96 percent of Kirinyaga County’s staff are Kikuyus.
Following the five notorious counties are Nandi, Nyamira, Kisii, Nyandarua, and Nyeri, who all have at least 90 percent of their staff comprising the dominant community in the respective counties. Others are Murang’a, Baringo, Makueni Wajir, Kakamega, Meru and Kitui.
The report tabled before the Senate last week further revealed that some 12 counties are also not in compliance with laws requiring that at least 30 percent of the vacant posts at the entry level are filled by candidates not from the dominant ethnic community in the county.
The devolved units include Kwale, Kilifi, Mandera, Machakos, Uasin Gishu, Garissa, Laikipia, Bungoma, Vihiga, Kisumu, Migori and Kajiado.
Section 65 (1) (e) of the County Governments Act, 2012 states that in selecting candidates for appointment, the County Public Service Board shall ensure at least 30 percent of the vacant posts at entry level are filled by candidates not from the dominant ethnic community in the county.
The National Cohesion and Integration Act, 2008, further stipulates that no public establishment should employ more than one-third of its staff from the same ethnic group.
Section 7 (1) and (2) of the National Cohesion and Integration Act provides that public offices must seek to represent diversity in the employment of staff and that no public institution should have more than one third of staff establishment from one ethnic community.
However, most counties continue to blatantly violate the statutory requirements with some having nearly the entire workforce from one ethnic group.
The violation of the law has also found its way into appointive positions in some of the counties where Elgeyo-Marakwet, Kericho, Makueni, Nyandarua and Vihiga have county executive committee members (CECMs) and county chief officers exclusively from dominant ethnic communities.
In the last 13 years of devolution, the office of the auditor-general has consistently flagged out the issue in the reports of every county government.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
According to the office of the auditor-general, all the Public Service Boards and the County Assembly Public Service Boards have breached the law on employment and recruitment policies on diversity.
Governor Barchok, while appearing before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee in the past, told the committee that employment in counties is hostage to politics.
“There is a lot of politics. We face a lot of resistance from the local community,” he said, adding that the process has been undermined by the failure by non-locals to apply for advertised jobs.
Furthering exclusion, 42 county governments have also failed to comply with the constitutional requirement to reserve five percent of appointed positions, the county executive committee members and chief officers, in the county public service to persons with disabilities (PWDs) contrary to Article 54(2) of the Constitution and Section 13 of the Persons with Disabilities Act.
The only compliant counties include Lamu, Taita Taveta, Wajir, Turkana and Nandi which have at least five percent of the positions going to PWDs.
The report also fingered Kisumu, Kisii, Isiolo, Nyeri, Laikipia, Wajir and Embu counties for failing to comply with the constitutional requirement that not more than two-thirds of members of a body shall be of the same gender.
Making amends
The non-compliant counties have been given 18 months to ensure the violations are corrected, including taking immediate measures to ensure accessibility of job advertisements through diversifying their means of advertisement.
This is through utilising social media platforms, the national radio stations and TV stations and use of local leaders to help reach many candidates, including special interest groups.
“All the county governments should use alternative means of job advertisements such as local and national vernacular radio stations, social media and local leaders to reach a wider pool of candidates by doing targeted civic education and advertising the recruitment opportunities,” reads the report.
“That all county governments should use target job advertisements encouraging minority communities, youth, women, persons with disabilities to apply and be considered,” the report adds.
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