The office of the Auditor General has exposed tribalism at the Kenya Seed Company (KSC).
Nancy Gathungu’s report shows that Kalenjins are 202 out of 351 permanent workers at the State agency, representing a 58 percent share. This is in breach of the National Cohesion and Integration Act, 2008, which bars a single community from occupying more than a third of employment positions in State-owned firms.
The report, which was tabled in Parliament,highlights struggles by the Public Service Commission to ensure that offices funded by taxpayers have a face of Kenya with all communities given an opportunity to serve.
The audit report, currently before parliament, further notes that during the year under review, the KSC management recruited 16 new staff out of whom, 11 (about 67 percent) were drawn from one ethnic community.
“The company has not adhered to the law,” the audit report.
According to Public Service Commission (PSC) diversity policy, all public service institutions will now be required to put in place measures to correct the ethnic imbalance.
Under the diversity policy for State ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), ethnic groups whose job representation surpasses their corresponding national population proportion are considered to be overrepresented.
The diversity policy was expected to tackle the problem of overrepresentation by setting hiring quotas for ethnic groups and disadvantaged classes such as the disabled.
The audit states that the composition of the Kenya Seed Company board, violates the Mwongozo code of governance for state corporations.
The audit shows that of the 12 directors, only one, the company secretary, was of female gender.
The Mwongozo guidelines require that the size and composition of the boards be diverse in gender, competencies and skills for effective leadership of an organization.
The firm defied the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to increase workers’ salaries amid its bloated wage bill.
“During the year under review, the management increased basic salaries for staff and as a result, it did not observe the recommendation made by the SRC,” reads the report.
