Two tribes account for a third of workforce in 51 state agencies

The Senate

A report by the Senate’s National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration Committee tabled before the Senate has pointed out serious ethnic imbalances that continue to affect the public service.

The report revealed that  Kikuyus and Kalenjins account for more than a third of workers in the 51 state agencies were examined by the panel with two communities having 56,774 employees out of a total of 148,092, representing 38.33 per cent of the workforce captured in the inquiry.

The report tabled in the house by the committee Chairperson Marsabit Senator Mohamed Chute showed that the Kikuyu community also dominated the Public Service Commission where 18,319 out of 89,819 employees are Kikuyus, representing 20.39 per cent.

“The Kikuyu, the Kalenjin and the Kisii are overrepresented for example at Kenyatta National Hospital, 1,492 out of 5,056 employees, representing 29.51 per cent, are Kikuyus while the Kenya Tea Development Agency, 554 of the 1,603 employees are Kikuyus,” said Chute.

The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority has 15 out of 64 employees being Kikuyus while at the Kenya School of Government, there are 115 Kikuyus out of 492 employees, while at the Central Bank, there are 325 Kikuyus out of 1,311 employees, representing 24.79 per cent.

Other agencies with a high number of Kikuyus include the Capital Markets Authority, where they account for 24 of the 99 staff and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, where 15 of the 64 employees are from the community.

The Senate has established that atleast 1404 out of the 1924 employees at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions(ODPP) come from only six ethnic communities after the Director Renson Ingonga appeared before the committee.

In a report tabled by Director of Public Prosecutions it   indicated that key positions in the state agency are controlled by Kikuyus, Kalenjins, Luhya, Luos, Kambas and Kisii communities while other communities have very few staff members.

This implies that the six communities’ control 72.97 per cent of the employment opportunities according to the report presented by Director of Public Prosecution Renson Ingonga before the committee chaired by Marsabit Senator Mohamed Chute.

“The Kikuyu are the single largest community occupying job positions at ODPP with 314 staff members representing 16.2 per cent followed by Kalenjins with 268, representing 13.91 per cent,” said Ingonga.

 The Director of Public Prosecution told Senators that there are 297 Luhya or 15.45 per cent, 204 Luos, representing 10.59 per cent of the workforce, 133 Kambas, representing 6.91 per cent and 189 Kisii’s representing 9.81 per cent.

Ingonga said that other communities with high number of representations at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions are Mbeere who are 83, Meru (40), Maasai (47), Embu (31), Somalis (53), Somali (21) and Kenyan Swahili (15).

The underrepresented communities at ODPP are Sekuiye, Aweer, Burji and Makonde with one member each while the Rendile, Nubi and Malakote have two members each, while Ogaden and Njemps have three members each while Ndorobo, Orma and Teso have four members each.

“I would like to inform the Senate that we have 45 communities represented at the Offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions with no single ethnic group exceeds the 33.3 per cent set under the National Cohesion and Integration Commission,” said Ingonga.

According to the ODPP representation of the minority groups has improved, with 40 ethnic groups collectively accounting for 45.6 per cent of staff and through the public service commission annual national values and principles compliance framework they undergo audit.

Ingonga said the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions undergoes audits to evaluate inclusivity in relation to gender and ethnicity pointing out that his office has taken deliberate steps to ensure that the Office’s website is accessible to all cadres.

He told Senators that all ODPP recruitment advertisements have a statement on affirmative action for the minority, intersex, and persons with disabilities and that they have ensured that recruitment materials, application portals, and interview processes are fully accessible.

“We have measures such as screen reader compatibility, provision of sign language interpretation during interviews, and use of accessible venues, we remain steadfast in upholding the Constitution, promoting inclusivity and ensuring justice for all Kenyans,” said Ingonga.

 He informed Senators that in total, there are 1007 females and 917 males at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and that everything was being done to ensure that there is ethnic and gender balance whenever a recruitment opportunity avails itself.