5.1 Categories of staff on county payrolls in Kenya, FY2018/19

TABLE 5.1 Categories of staff on county payrolls in Kenya, FY2018/19

CATEGORY OF STAFF

Employees “inherited” from the defunct local governments (county, city, municipal, town, or urban councils)

Employees “seconded” by the national government following the establishment of county governments County public service staff newly recruited through the CPSB or CASB Employees “on contract” with the County Executive or County Assembly

TERMS OF SERVICE

The terms and conditions of service of these employees remain much more attractive than those that the SRC has authorized for other categories of employees. The terms and conditions of service of these staff are based on the national government’s employment terms and schemes of service.

Terms and conditions of service are specifically authorized by the SRC. Generally, these types of employees make up the “personal” staff of the governor and speaker of the County Assembly. Although they are placed in job grades authorized by the SRC, in many cases their skills and other competencies are not up to the job grades bestowed by their sponsors.

SHARE OF FY2018/19 COUNTY STAFF (%)

18

37

45

Employees on “casual or temporary or internship terms” This category of employee is often recruited by the executive of the county governments outside of conventional professional procedures, norms, and standards— sometimes on terms and conditions of service that are not aligned with those of other employees of equivalent competencies and responsibilities.

Source: World Bank 2020d. Note: CASB = County Assembly Service Board; CPSB = County Public Service Board; SRC = Salaries and Renumeration Commission.

However, this institutional framework for recruitment and staff management is not providing sufficient safeguards to ensure meritocratic recruitment and appointments. The CPSBs and CASBs in many counties have not been effective in this regard and in imposing checks and balances in HRM practices. This is because (1) CPSB and CASB membership is often shaped by political considerations that undermine the members’ competencies and professional independence; and (2) the CPSBs and CASBs have fallen prey to political interference, and even blackmail,5 by county governors and MCAs, respectively. Moreover, the CPSBs have not always relied on competent professionals to assist in the staff recruitment and contracting process, resulting in underqualified and incompetent hires. Finally, the national Public Service Commission (PSC) does not have a constitutional mandate to scrutinize, oversee, or supervise county HRM, CPSBs, or CASBs.

The national government has provided HRM guidance and training for county governments. Ministries, departments, and agencies—such as the PSC, the Ministry of Public Service and Gender (MoPSG), and Kenya School of Government (KSG)—have initiated early programs and projects to build the organizational and HRM capacity of county governments, often within the National Capacity Building Framework (as discussed in chapter 4, box 4.1). Some county governments have benefited from this support to adopt basic HRM policies, systems, and operating procedures, with some degree of success; however, many counties have yet to set up satisfactory HRM policies and systems.

County-level HRM efforts

Some counties have made efforts to restructure or rationalize their workforces and to manage personnel costs. Some counties have policy initiatives to control wage bill growth and improve the value for money of personnel expenditures.