Over 1,700 workers attached to government parastatals are now staring at job losses if an audit by the Public Service Commission (PSC) is anything to go by.
According to the audit, 1,726 employees form excess workforce in the five parastatals leading to waste of resources, and mounting pressure on the country's wage bill.
The affected parastatals are the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) as well as Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA).
The other public institutions, which are likely to be affected are Utalii College, Egerton University and Rongo University.
“The institutions with staff over-establishment to review and align them to the authorised staff establishment,” read a statement by PSC according to Nation.
KEMSA led the pack with 536 unnecessary employees followed by Utalii College (393) and Agriculture and Food Authority (327).
This comes at a time when the state is grappling with financial challenges forcing it to outsource its finances.
As of February 2022, the total Kenyan debt had crossed Ksh8 billion representing a substantial percentage of the country's annual budget.
The new development comes even as the state continues to shed excess staffing in an attempt to trim its recurrent expenditure.
Over the pandemic period, KEMSA has been under fire with pressure mounting on the agency to effect mass sacking at the loss-making parastatal.
In November 2021, the government had recommended the sacking of more than half of the staff at the troubled body causing uproar
The State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC) recommended the sacking of nearly half of the KEMSA staff with the jobs of more than 900 employees said to be online at the time.
Other parastatals such as Kenya Power have also been exploring ways to shed excess workforce from their payrolls.
