Central Kenya dominates management roles at KRA

The region also accounts 29.69 percent of the middle level staff management, underlining the disparities in the ethnic composition of the civil service and State-owned agencies.

Under the diversity policy for State Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) released in December 2015 by the Public Service Commission (PSC), ethnic groups whose job representation surpasses their corresponding national population proportion are considered over-represented.

The diversity policy was expected to tackle the problem of over-representation by setting hiring quotas for ethnic groups and disadvantaged classes such as the disabled.

On top management, Nyanza region comes in second with 12.03 percent share of the 133 executive jobs against its population representation of 10.58 percent, which is over-represented by 1.45 percentage points.

Rift Valley is underrepresented at 6.88 percent, Western (0.32 per cent) and Eastern (0.40 percent).

“The authority purposes to circulate job advertisements to the wider population to attract Kenyans of diverse ethnic groups,” says KRA in the diversity report.

Central Kenya has occupied the Commissioner-General’s job at KRA over the past 16 years.

Chief executives of State- owned firms tend to influence the employment of cronies and kinsmen in the firms they head.

The PSC had earlier proposed assigning recruitment or promotion quotas over a period of time in ministries and the State agencies to uplift the underrepresented communities.

The policy was a follow-up to the Public Service (Values and Principles) Act, 2015 which requires ethnic balance in the public service to make it reflect the face of Kenya by balancing the share in favour of smaller tribes historically marginalised.

Five communities control 80.45 percent of the senior management team, with the remainder held by 11 other ethnic groups.