Report: More men got jobs in public service last year

By WILFRED AYAGA

Kenya: There were more men than women recruited into the public service in the first half of the 2012/2013 financial year, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has revealed in a report.

The document tabled yesterday in the National Assembly shows that PSC recruited 180 male officers against 118 females during the period.

The slots taken by men translated to 60 per cent of the total filled positions. Despite the discrepancies in the number of men and women recruited into the public service, PSC said that greater emphasis was placed on various parametres defined in the Constitution aimed at achieving regional and gender balance.

 “Emphasis was given to ensuring representation of Kenya’s diverse communities and persons with special needs in appointments, advancement and training opportunities, including affirmative action as stipulated in the Constitution,” said the report signed by PSC chairperson Margaret Kobia.

The PSC further said it promoted 9,167 officers in various cadre of the public service.

Among the staff whose employment was facilitated by the PSC included members of the Transitional Authority and Principal Secretaries.

People with disabilities

In the report, PSC faulted various ministries and departments for failure to present to the commission their recruitment plans. It also bemoaned the low number of applications received from people with disabilities.

“The commission receives few applications from persons living with disabilities,” said the report.

It also revealed that PSC identified over 500 disciplinary cases within the police force, which it forwarded to the National Police Service Commission.

The commission said it had had to deal with challenges arising from its expanded mandate under the Constitution. “Under the Constitution, the commission’s mandate was expanded to include some functions that were previously undertaken by other Government departments and some that are completely new,” the report said.

Among the new functions that the PSC had to perform was training officials of the county public service boards.