Board jobs should be given to retirees

In a circular dated February 3, 2016 Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua (right) directed Cabinet secretaries not to appoint any public servant to boards of parastatals.

This because the Constitution provides that a full-time State officer shall not participate in any other gainful employment. This means up to 80 senior civil servants sitting in various boards will be replaced.

About a decade ago, the Government came up with a policy that all vacancies in the public sector must be advertised in the media so that all eligible Kenyans can have an equal chance of competing for them.

This was meant to convince all and sundry that employment in the public sector is devoid of nepotism, tribalism and that issues of gender and regional balance have been considered.

However, sampling through the names of candidates who have at one time or another been shortlisted for whichever vacancy in the last five years or more, one can detect that names of about 100 popular individuals in top careers often appear. Are top jobs in the public sector a preserve of a clique of people?

The government should come up with a policy that reserves short-term renewable jobs like chairpersons and members of boards for qualified and energetic retirees to tap their experience to grow the organisation.