In a country where close to one million youth join the labour market every year – and over 40 per cent of the population remains jobless – nothing can be as disheartening as keeping workers in public offices beyond retirement age.
Yet that is what is happening in Kenya. Up to 1,707 government employees in managerial and technical positions are older than 60 years.
According to a Public Service Commission (PSC) report released last week, shortage of skills has hampered efforts to replace the sexagenarians.
Nothing can be further from the truth. This anomaly smacks of poor succession planning. It portrays the PSC as an agency that has failed to appreciate the government as a going concern that requires constant mentoring and steady supply of fresh talent.
Otherwise why would there be so many overage workers when the Controller of Budget reports indicate that billions of shillings are spent in training public sector workers annually with Sh2.874 billion being spent in 2015/16 alone?
The PSC must take responsibility for its shortcomings and institute remedial action instead of looking for scapegoats.
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