State grip: Inside Ruto's plan to control counties and public service

President William Ruto signing bills in to law. [PCS]

President William Ruto is pushing for sweeping changes in how Kenya's public service and national government are run - changes that critics say will weaken independent institutions, sideline Parliament and governors, and concentrate more power in State House.

At the centre of the storm are the National Government Co-ordination Bill, 2023 and the Public Service Human Resource Management Bill, 2024 - draft laws that would, for the first time, place the Public Service Commission (PSC) under the orbit of the President's office, through the Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei.

The Bill, which has drawn opposition from the Public Service Commission, would give Koskei, Head of Public Service and Chief of Staff, sweeping powers over the hiring of civil servants, teachers, county staff, parliamentary and judicial employees, as well as those in parastatals.

"The Cabinet Secretary, in consultation with the Public Service Commission, the County Public Service Boards, and the County Assembly Service Boards, shall develop regulations for the transfer of public service employees between the two levels of government and among county governments to promote efficiency, productivity, and cohesion," the Public Service Human Resource Management Bill reads.

If passed, the Bills could give the presidency de facto control over civil servants, service delivery units across all 290 constituencies, and even the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Kenya Human Rights Commission, and other institutions long viewed as independent.

"These Bills are not just about coordination - it's about control," said one senior civil servant, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "They dismantle constitutional firewalls and turns the public service into a political tool."

The proposed law has undergone quiet changes since its early days, when it was called the National Police Service (Amendment) Bill. But the implications of the renamed draft go far beyond policing, creating government units that will run parallel to counties and undermine devolution. It redefines the role of the presidency in managing the State and tightens the leash on civil servants, governors, and independent commissions.

Currently, Chapter 13 of the Constitution protects the independence of the Public Service Commission. Established under Article 233(1), the PSC is responsible for hiring, disciplining, and promoting civil servants, and is explicitly shielded from executive interference.

But under the new Bill, the President would appoint the Head of Public Service, who will also serve as Chief of Staff at State House, on recommendation from the PSC, though the job will remain entirely at the "pleasure of the President."

In practice, this means the President can fire the Head of Public Service at will, effectively making the commission answerable to the executive.

"The Head of the Public Service shall perform such other functions as may be assigned by the President," the Bill reads.
That clause, while brief, has wide-ranging implications for the structure and management of the public service, exposing professional civil servants to the whims of politicians. Critics warn that it allows the Head of Public Service to become a gatekeeper for promotions, transfers, and discipline - all from within the President's office.

Also embedded in the Bill is the creation of Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS) - positions the courts have previously ruled unconstitutional. The CAS roles have often been used as political rewards for loyalists who lose elections or help the ruling party mobilise.

"The CAS post is just another political tool. It's not about service delivery - it's about rewarding cronies," said political analyst Javas Bigambo. "Now it's being smuggled back into law."

Blurred lines

The new law also allows the President to bypass governors and Parliament in delivering government services. All 290 constituencies - electoral units meant for legislative representation - will be turned into national government service delivery units.

"Where a county government has not decentralised its units... the national government may establish its own service delivery coordination units," the Bill states - effectively giving President Ruto the power to operate in any county, with or without the consent of devolved units.

To staff these new structures, the Bill elevates existing chiefs, assistant chiefs, and provincial administration officers into "national government administrative officers." These officers will oversee public projects and coordinate civil servants - blurring the line between national and devolved functions.

"Parliament, which has failed in its oversight role, should be thinking of laws that will protect Kenya and Kenyans for years. They should stop thinking only of the time they are in power," Bigambo told The Standard.

Bigambo said that for older Kenyans, the draft law feels like a throwback to the pre-2010 Constitution era, where government control was top-down and centralised, and political loyalty mattered more than professional competence.

"The Bill reeks of a centralised system masked as coordination," he said. "It's like watching the Constitution being destroyed by those expected to protect it.

Constitution watered down

Bigambo added that the law erodes gains made by devolution. Governors, already struggling with budget delays and competing mandates, would now find national government officials embedded in their backyards - duplicating, and at times overruling, their work.

Even Parliament is being bypassed in subtle ways. The Bill says the President may assign duties to individuals, require performance reports, and run the national government through coordination committees - none of which require parliamentary approval.

The civil service, once built on merit and protected by law, is already under political strain. TSC appointment letters are now being distributed at funerals by MPs seeking popularity, and public jobs increasingly go to political allies. Bigambo warned that the new bill could worsen this trend.

"The independence of public institutions is being undermined by stealth," said a county-based public officer. "We are returning to an era where proximity to power means everything."

The Constitution had tried to protect civil servants through Article 234, which gives the PSC powers to hire and discipline without interference. It also forbids the PSC from assigning staff to the President without consent. Yet the new law appears to twist those protections by giving the President greater say in who serves, how they serve, and under whose supervision.

The Head of Public Service would also oversee new "delivery units," echoing Ruto's days as Deputy President under Uhuru Kenyatta, when a similar system ran parallel to Cabinet and public institutions.

In defending the Bill, government officials and its drafters say it's merely a legal framework to make the Executive more efficient. But for those who have watched Kenya's democracy mature over two decades, the law raises red flags.

Kisumu Governor Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, responding to President Ruto's continued onslaught on the Constitution and devolution, said the 2010 Constitution is a hindrance to the Kenya Kwanza administration's "primitive accumulation schemes" which threaten not only devolution but the very ethos of building a democratic and developmental state.

"The truth is that the Ruto regime has decided to go back to the pre-devolution times of the Nyayo era," Nyong'o said in a press statement.

At stake is the balance of power between the presidency and institutions designed to check it - like the PSC, the TSC, counties, State agencies, and independent commissions. Bigambo said that for a President whose campaign was built on the "Bottom-Up" slogan, Ruto's government is now doing the opposite: pulling power upward to the top.

"This is not about service delivery," Bigambo said. "It's about reshaping the state to fit the politics of the moment."