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{
    "id": 1376049,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1376049/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 183,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Lugari, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Nabii Nabwera",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to support this Bill. I also thank Hon. Benjamin for coming up with this amendment Bill. As a human resource practitioner, one of the things that I have found very unacceptable in the Kenyan Public Service is the casualisation of permanent and pensionable jobs through acting appointments. The public service is a going concern and an entity of entirety. In a country where we have excess qualified labour, the public service should set standards for the private sector. It is deeply concerning that people serve in key positions in an acting capacity for many years. You have heard what Hon. Malulu shared about what befell him for six years. A university college in this country, which was almost going under, appointed a Deputy Vice- Chancellor to serve in an acting capacity. He has acted effectively and brought that university to life. There is now an attempt to remove him and appoint somebody else who has been serving under him. That is what happens with acting appointments. We have moved away from the tenets of the code of conduct of the public service that require that one is appointed in an acting capacity to assess his or her suitability for a job. Those who wield power now dangle acting appointments like a carrot. There are very sensitive positions within the public service where one cannot serve in an acting position indefinitely. The position of director, which is the engine of delivery, is one such case. As I was looking at employment positions in the public service this morning, I noticed that 109 people are serving in an acting capacity, with some for as long as two years and others three years. Why do we pay the Public Service Commission which is supposed to employ public servants? There are two reasons why people hang around after attaining 60 years of age. First, as a country, we are not doing well in terms of payment of pension to retirees. We take too long to pay them, especially those in the public service. Given that those are people in authority, they will want to stay in those offices by always saying that there is nobody ready to take over the job. We need to revisit the Pensions Act as we deal with this issue and cater for retirees. We need to improve their access to healthcare. We need to contemplate how somebody who has served this country for many years cannot afford healthcare. Somebody retires as an under- secretary or a director and after two or three years, he or she cannot pay a medical bill. Those are some of the reasons why people do not want to go home once they attain 60 years of age. As we think through this Bill, there is a new “animal” called internship. Those of us who come from the field of HR wonder how a teacher can serve as an intern for two years. Indeed, that makes it a casual job! I mean, a person staying with kids in school. That is the animal we have in the Junior Secondary Schools (JSS). That is why there is no stability. When you get a job, after one year, they assess whether you are suitable to be confirmed. I am calling on the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Public Service Commission (PSC) to reconsider the approach of keeping young people as interns for two years. This should be reduced to one year and then they are confirmed in employment. Good human resource (HR) practice is that you must have an HR plan in place. So, you will automatically know Hon. Nabii Nabwera will be retiring in one year or three and then you get somebody to understudy him. When he reaches retirement age, that person should automatically take over. There should be no vacuum where we say that we are looking because we do not have a person or need… We waste a lot of money advertising when people should grow in the system. The biggest problem we have is the general principle of inclusion. The reason we have 109 acting directors in the public service is because somebody is waiting for his kinsman. Since he is not the immediate understudy of that person, you keep him in an acting capacity. We need to espouse regional balance, gender parity and the whole question of People living With The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor"
}