Hello

Your subscription is almost coming to an end. Don’t miss out on the great content on Nation.Africa

Ready to continue your informative journey with us?

Hello

Your premium access has ended, but the best of Nation.Africa is still within reach. Renew now to unlock exclusive stories and in-depth features.

Reclaim your full access. Click below to renew.

Ensure fair hiring in public sector jobs

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has been left with egg on its face following the exposure of its recent flawed recruitment of staff. Though heavily criticised for its blatant bias by hiring mainly from only two communities, some of the beneficiaries also had poor academic qualifications.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu’s latest report has revealed numerous irregularities in the recruitment of Revenue Service Assistants (RSAs). It was grossly unfair, as in a country of more than 40 ethnic groups, only two took up 56 per cent of the positions in the top government agency.

But even more damning is the finding that 69 applicants with grades below the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) D+ participated. Also damning is the fact that 5,577 applicants failed to disclose their age, but the KRA irregularly allowed them to apply for those jobs. Some 123,525 people applied and the candidates were supposed to be below 35.

The Auditor-General also found that some were allowed to submit more than one application. It is a shame that in a country that is teeming with qualified unemployed young people, this prime public institution recruited academic failures.

More irregularities have emerged in this recruitment sham that the High Court eventually quashed for being unconstitutional. While the minimum academic qualification was a D+, the KRA admitted people who scored below that in the two initial rounds of interviews.

The KRA conceded that the process was flawed and blamed it on intense political interference during the recruitment of the RSAs, a cadre that was expected to enable more tax compliance to boost government revenue collection.

The National Treasury and the Public Service Commission had approved the hiring of 1,406 staff. However, the High Court nullified the recruitment after finding that it favoured candidates from only two communities.

Though the two constitute only 32 per cent of the national population, they were granted half of positions the KRA had hired. It is important that the face of Kenya is reflected in employment in government departments, agencies, other organisations and parastatals, as they are funded by taxpayers. Such flawed recruitment should never happen again in the public sector.