Civil Service Must Ensure High Salaries Are Justified

Business Daily (Nairobi)

27 May 2011

opinion

It comes as no surprise to keen watchers of Kenya’s labour scene that the public service, including teachers and the Armed Forces, has over the last decade become the preferred employer for most professionals across the career divide.

Reforms in the sector have steadily seen entrenched patronage, low wages and archaic delivery platforms pave the way for merit, pay for performance and modern processes that rival those in some blue chip private sector organisations.

For ages, professionals frowned at jobs in the civil service not just because of the meagre pay but also because of inadequate counterpart resources that make work easier. There was also the prevalent down side that it did not matter how good one was at the assigned duties, with the key to promotion and other aspects of career growth like scholarships being who one knew.

These tended to weigh down the guarantee of security that came with the job and a predictable work regime – eight to five, free weekends – that are increasingly persuading middle level professionals to serve in the public sector. Today, civil servants are on average earning one shilling more per day than their peers in the private sector, a marginal edge that is spiced by opportunities for a better work life balance as well.

While this shift needs to be celebrated, however, the civil service primarily exists to facilitate – through policies and infrastructure – the private sector to invest more at optimal returns, helping create more jobs and generate wealth. With the exception of a few departments where better working conditions have led to efficiency in the provision of services to citizens, the return to taxpayers has been dismal.

To be fair, a lot has been achieved at the head offices of key ministries and departments, but this is yet to cascade down to the provincial, district and divisional centres. What is lacking down the rank of file is a realisation that the laid back culture of the civil service, where one reported late and left early (a coat left on the chair for good measure) is long gone. Its place has since been taken by a customer-oriented work ethic in which efficiency and accountability are the defining criteria.

Without these, the enhanced pay structure for public servants may not be justifiable and will only amount to throwing tax payers’ money down the drain. The public expects more now that the force is enjoying better working conditions and terms of service through faster processing of official documents like business licences, work permits, passports, identity cards and delivery of efficient services especially by municipalities.

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