October and November saw newspapers, recruitment and social media sites inundated by advertisements for public service jobs.
Principal secretaries (PSs) and chief administrative secretaries (CASs) at national level, and county executive committee members (CECs) and chief Officers (COs) at the county level.
All these were up for grabs as government transitioned at both levels. In all cases, the number of applicants was overwhelming, with thousands of applicants for the few available offices.
Over 9,000 people, for instance, applied for the 51 available offices of PSs. This is how steep the ratio gets, perhaps evidence of today’s tight job market.
But my concern is elsewhere. In the old dispensation, public service careers were stable and predictable. This bred strong, resolute, confident and committed public servants at all levels, right up to the Permanent Secretary — the chief accounting officer in government ministries at the time.
Governments came and went, but top level officers in ministries, and in the local governments of the time, remained put to ensure continuity.
This continuity and predictability gave middle and lower-cadre officers confidence and pride of belonging. It protected institutions and preserved institutional culture.
The ministers and assistant ministers of the time would come and go, but the civil service powered on unchanged. Therefore, once in public service, professionals would be assured of growing their careers to maturity.
The new dispensation ushered in a model that needs careful watching, and perhaps some safeguards. Many professionals have found themselves swept out of their careers mid-stream, while ill-prepared for pursuing careers outside government. Look at what happens at the national level.
Going by what was witnessed in 2013 and 2022, the norm is now to exit nearly the entire cohort of principal secretaries at transition. At county level, all the CECs and COs, aka county 'ministers' and 'PSs' are also exiting along with their governors.
Many of these are professionals in their mid-careers. Some had left rather stable jobs in state and non-state institutions, and are hard-pressed to return. The lucky few who have been able to resume their previous offices in national government find it difficult to fit back.
The working environment is markedly different, and their peers moved on and up the hierarchy. But the real tragedy at both levels is the many brilliant careers that are cut short.
Remember that those who have worked as principal secretaries cannot fit back in the routine establishment in a ministry. That wouldn’t work for them.
Similarly, those who have worked as CECs or chief officers at county level cannot be re-absorbed in county governments. So they must ship out, or seek alternative political careers to remain in public service.
Many were unprepared for this eventuality. We aren’t optimising on their skills, and are exposing the national and county governments to very tenuous institutional leadership. These lessons need to inform us forward, and motivate pre-emptive changes or safeguards.
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