Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has announced plans to move all civil servants from permanent and pensionable jobs to contract-based terms.
Speaking on Thursday, February 26, at the launch of the Public Service Commission strategic plan 2025-2029, Ruku said the proposal is part of a new Public Service Transformation Policy being prepared by his ministry.
He revealed that he will present the proposal to a cabinet committee next week before submitting it to the full cabinet in March this year for consideration.
“We are working on a public service transformation policy, which I will be doing a presentation to the cabinet committee next week, and later I will do a presentation to the full cabinet in March,” Ruku noted.
He went on to add, “It is high time as a government, and as a ministry, we see whether we can have employees or public servants on a contractual basis.”
According to the CS, if approved, the new framework will see public servants employed on three or five-year renewable contracts tied to performance targets.
Those who meet their contractual obligations will have their terms renewed, while those who fail to deliver will be required to exit the service.
“You are given a contract for three or five years. If you perform properly, you are given another contract for five years. If you don’t meet the contractual basis, you go and look for another job,” the CS said.
The CS argued that the move is aimed at addressing what he described as impunity and entitlement within the public sector, noting that the current permanent employment had led to complacency among some public servants.
During the meeting, Ruku highlighted absenteeism in public offices as one of the key concerns that has informed the proposed reforms.
He observed that while interns consistently arrive on time, many of their supervisors do not, describing the pattern as evidence of a growing sense of entitlement among some long-serving public officers.
”All the young people who this commission has given jobs in different public offices arrive at their workplaces early enough, but their bosses are not in their offices at the right time,” Ruku noted.
Ruku maintained that transitioning all public servants to performance-based contracts will enhance discipline and improve service delivery across government institutions.
