Members of Parliament on Tuesday expressed concerns about the uneven distribution of job opportunities across the public service with some ethnic communities appearing to dominate the service.
The National Assembly Committee on Labour, chaired by Runyenjes lawmaker Karemba Muchagi, was forced to seek clarification during a meeting with Public Service Commission (PSC) officials at the Bunge Towers in Nairobi.
PSC, led by its Chairperson Antony Muchiri, had been invited by the committee to answer questions regarding actions taken by the commission to streamline and balance the absorption of various communities in the public service.
According to a report tabled before the committee by the Commission, there was a worrying variation in the pattern of employment across different communities in the country.
For instance, the report highlighted the Kikuyu community as the ethnic group with the highest representation, with 29,978 officers in public service, while marginalized communities such as the Gosha, Konso, and Leysan had only two officers each.
While responding to the Committee’s queries, Muchiri highlighted that the commission had made notable strides in ensuring regional balance and ethnic inclusivity, in compliance with the law.
"39 ethnic communities had normal representation in the 2023 and 2024 financial year, up from 33 ethnic communities in 2016 and 2017, reflecting an 18.2 per cent improvement," Muchiri informed the committee.
Muchiri also emphasised that the recruitment process takes into account various measures designed to ensure diversity, for instance, the inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), gender representation, and consideration of the country of origin of candidates.
“The Commission found it prudent to consider the county of origin of a candidate in a recruitment exercise, for we may end up appropriating more opportunities to one county to the disadvantage of other counties that share the same ethnic community,” Muchiri explained.
Following the meeting, the lawmakers directed the commission to take immediate action to address these disparities and ensure fair representation for all communities moving forward.
Meanwhile, an annual report released by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) in November 2023 revealed that the Kalenjin had the largest share of jobs per ethnic tribe at 15.83 per cent followed by the Kikuyu community at 15.77 per cent.
The NCIC report established that employment in Kenya was not only skewed towards dominant communities, the report further indicated that ten tribes took up 89 per cent of jobs in the country.
