Unemployment and job crisis in Kenya just hit a notch higher following the government directive through Treasury that hiring of new employees is going to be halted for the next three years.
“It is government policy to contain the wage bill to the medium-term targets,” Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani instructed accounting officers.
The National Treasury has directed all ministries, state departments and agencies (MDAs) not to allocate resources for new recruitment.
Also frozen are paid internship and staff upgrades.
In a circular to accounting officers, Yatani said only the most essential jobs will be budgeted for or advertised with prior express approval of the Treasury.
Budget allocations for 2021-22 to 2023 -24 will only allow for normal wage drift to cater for movement from one salary scale to another.
When hiring is critical, Yatani said MDAs must obtain a written approval from his office about the availability of funds.
Only after getting the go-ahead will state entities consult the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to make the funding adjustments.
It remains unclear if retiring civil servants will be replaced.
Thirty-five per cent of national government employees are aged between 51 and 60 years, while 53 per cent are between 46 and 50 years.
The ages mean a large number of public servants is retiring annually.
The government is the biggest employer in Kenya and the cutback will greatly aggravate the employment crisis and could impede service delivery.
Apart from the job freeze, Yatani cited resource constraints and directed accounting officers to review their requirements for goods and services to reduce recurrent spending.
Requests for goods and services will have to be supported by agreements, demand notes and documentary evidence of past trends.
Further, Yatani said no new projects will be started without the express approval of the Executive Office of the President.
“In case of any new project, the sector working groups are advised to only consider those approved by the Executive Office of the President,” the circular to MDAs reads.
“MDAs will be required to ensure all new projects are adequately prepared, appraised and approved by the National Treasury before seeking approval from the President’s office,” the CS said.
Even so, tough conditions will be imposed on new projects that will be approved upon confirmation that land is available, affected persons compensated and public participation carried out.
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Accounting officers will also be required to provide detailed designs, relevant approvals and resource requirements, including personnel.
Yatani directed the details of new projects be captured in the Public Investment Management Information System (PIMIS).
“Where the above preliminaries have not been met, accounting officers will only request resources to meet these prerequisites in that financial year,” he said.
Financial agreements with development partners will also be executed for projects approved and processed through the PIMIS.
“For any new project to be considered for funding, it must have been appraised and approved and pipelined by June 30 of the preceding financial year,” the CS said.
