Civil service employer dominated by 5 tribes

Five ethnic groups are over represented at the Public Service Commission (PSC), squeezing out other communities from opportunities at the civil service employer.

A PSC report on its ethnic composition tabled in Parliament Tuesday indicates that the five — Kikuyu, Luhya, Kisii, Maasai and Embu — control 53.3 percent of the 223 jobs.

Together they hold 119 jobs at the comission, leaving the other 43 ethnic groups to share the remaining 104 slots.

“We admit to the imbalanced ethnic representation at the PSC and are deliberately working towards having a balanced workforce,” Commission chairman Stephen Kirogo told the National Assembly Commitee on National Cohesion.

Under the diversity policy for State Ministries, Departments and Agencies released in December 2015 by the PSC, ethnic groups whose job representation surpasses their corresponding national population proportion are considered to be over-represented.

The diversity policy was expected to tackle the problem of over-representation by setting hiring quotas for ethnic groups and disadvantaged classes.

Kikuyus hold 52 jobs or 23.3 percent, overshooting their quota according to the 2009 Census. Embu overshoot their population proportion by 2.2 percent, Kisii (1.8pc), Luhyas (1.7pc) and Maasai (1.3pc).