This archive report was first published on 15 October 2019.
The Public Service Commission's (PSC) recent decision to employ entry-level civil servants on short contracts has sparked concerns about the future of Kenya's civil service.
According to reports, the PSC has not officially communicated these changes to its employees beyond the media, nor has it engaged the Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS), the sole body mandated to organize and represent government employees in all matters relating to their terms and conditions of employment.
Published on October 15, 2019, this policy is a step backward, as it goes against the traditions that underpin a permanent service system in a democracy.
A permanent civil service provides continuity and develops expertise and institutional memory for effective policymaking.
However, the three-year contract does not provide room for young employees to develop in-depth knowledge and expertise in public affairs.
Traditionally, civil servants serve the government of the day, and a permanent and impartial civil service is more likely to assess the long-term social payoffs of any policy.
The Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883, enacted in the wake of US President James Garfield's assassination, established the tradition and mechanism of permanent federal employment based on merit rather than political party affiliation.
Are we saying that Kenya is at its best with a mercenary civil service, like the Italian statesman Nicolai Machiavelli's Mercenary Armies, 'disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies'?
