Kenya Insights

Tag: Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC)

  • Tribal Hiring In Mudavadi’s Office Exposed

    Tribal Hiring In Mudavadi’s Office Exposed

    A new audit has put Musalia Mudavadi’s Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary under scrutiny for ethnic disparity in the workforce.

    Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu’s report reveals that two communities dominate the office’s employees, comprising 54 per cent of the total workforce. However, the audit does not specify which communities are involved.

    Gathungu expressed concern over this imbalance, stating that most marginalised tribes are underrepresented in the office.

    “Most marginalised tribes are not represented in the workforce,” she said, noting that this situation breaches the National Cohesion and Integration Act, 2008.

    The Act prohibits any public establishment from having more than a third of its employees from a single ethnic community.

    “The management is in breach of the law,” Gathungu stated, underlining the violation of legal guidelines meant to ensure diversity in government offices.

    In addition to the ethnic imbalance, the audit revealed that the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary is facing serious staffing shortages.

    The office, which has an establishment of 177 staff positions, had only 106 staff members in post as of June 30, 2024. This results in a shortage of 71 employees.

    The review also found disparities in staffing across departments.

    Five departments were found to be overstaffed, eight departments were understaffed, and 10 departments had no staff at all. One department had five employees in positions that were not authorised.

    Staffing deficiencies

    Gathungu warned that the staffing deficiencies could hinder the office from achieving its strategic goals.

    “In the circumstances, the office may not achieve the strategic objectives due to insufficient human resources,” she said.

    The office has acknowledged the identified gaps, attributing them to “inadequate numbers of professional or technical officers” and “limited human resource development opportunities caused by lack of approved establishment”.

    These findings come shortly after the Public Service Commission reported that Kikuyus and Kalenjins hold a large portion of public sector jobs.

    The PSC compliance report for the period ending December 2024 showed that Kikuyus and Kalenjins make up 20 per cent and 17.6 per cent of the public service workforce, with 47,543 Kikuyus and 40,820 Kalenjins employed.

    The report also identified non-competitive hiring as a significant cause of this ethnic imbalance, with 29 public institutions found to have one ethnic group constituting over 50 per cent of their staff.

    The situation continued into 2024, with ministries recruiting 675 employees non-competitively, just shy of the 686 hired by state corporations.

    The audit findings raise serious concerns about the recruitment process, staffing practices, and the overall adherence to laws designed to foster a more inclusive civil service.

  • Major Audit Exposes 200 Parliament Staff Hold Fake Papers

    Major Audit Exposes 200 Parliament Staff Hold Fake Papers

    Over 200 staffers in Parliament have been ensnared in a crackdown on holders of fraudulent academic certificates.

    This extensive operation, initiated by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) more than a year ago, has uncovered a troubling trend of moral decay and graft within government employment.

    The Star has learned that the audit, which is currently verifying the authenticity of various academic credentials—including KCPE, KCSE, diplomas, degrees, and master’s certificates—has implicated both senior and junior employees, triggering widespread panic among the Parliamentary workforce.

    Concerns are mounting that the ongoing scrutiny could claim more victims in the coming days and weeks as investigations dig deeper.

    So far, the audit has primarily targeted those on the PSC payroll, which amounts to approximately 1,300 individuals.

    Insiders expect the probe to expand to employees working in MPs’ constituency offices, further widening the scope of this burgeoning scandal.

    Among the high-profile casualties identified are top directors and deputy directors, some of whom have been embedded within Parliament for decades and are on the cusp of retirement.

    Even aides working for influential parliamentary leaders are not immune to scrutiny, with reports citing affected staff members within the ranks of commissioners.

  • How MPs Loot Using Fake Mileage Claims

    How MPs Loot Using Fake Mileage Claims

    The Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) is on the spot over Sh16.6 million paid to three MPs irregularly.

    The three lawmakers blew out Sh16.6 million in triple payments for domestic travel, mileage claims and overseas travel, all done in the same day.

    The three MPs were paid Sh11,392,479 in domestic travel and subsistence in respect of mileage claims.

    “However, no explanation was provided as to why three Members were paid twice or thrice for the same date of travel,” Nancy Gathungu, the Auditor-General said in a report to Parliament.

    Ms Gathungu said further examination of payments for claims by MPs for mileage and domestic subsistence facilitation revealed instances where some legislators were paid domestic subsistence facilitation and mileage claims amounting to Sh5,219,357 on days when they were outside the country and already receiving foreign subsistence allowances.

    “In the circumstances, the propriety of the expenditure of Sh11,392,479 and Sh5,219,358 included under domestic travel and subsistence in the statement of receipts and payments for the year ended June 30, 2020 could not be determined,” Ms Gathungu said.

    The Treasury has allocated Parliament Sh37.7 billion in the current financial year.

    MPs are ordinarily reimbursed weekly mileage of about 18,000 per kilometre for return trip per kilometre depending on the distance covered. Those travelling long distance like Mandera, Lamu, Garissa Wajir, and Turkana pocket more than Sh1 monthly.

    Mileage reimbursement is usually claimed Monday to Friday by MPs also draw Sh5,000 per committee sitting, while chairman laughs all the way to the bank with Sh15,000. Vice chairpersons draw Sh7,500.

    Other perks include domestic subsistence (Sh19,000), house allowance (Sh2000,000). And Medical (Sh10 million) among others.

    In a qualified audit opinion for the year ended June 30, 2020 Ms Gathungu said the PSC spent Sh303,881,415,626 in respect of use of goods and services.

    “As disclosed under Note 4 to the financial statements, the expenditure includes an amount of Sh1,395,384,441 relating to domestic travel and subsistence out of which Sh11,392,479 was paid to the Members in respect of mileage claims.

    “However, no explanation was provided as to why three Members were paid twice or thrice for the same date of travel,” she said.

    She said examination of payments for claims by Members for mileage and domestic subsistence facilitation revealed instances where some Members were paid domestic subsistence facilitation and mileage claims on days when they were outside the country and already receiving foreign subsistence allowances.

    “The irregular payments had not been recovered by the time of the audit in December, 2020.

    “In the circumstances, the propriety of the expenditure of Sh11,392,479 and Sh5,219,358 included under domestic travel and subsistence in the statement of receipts and payments for the year ended 30 June, 2020 could not be determined,” Ms Gathungu said.

    Source: BD.