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Public Service Management: This is to inform the general public that following the appointment of the Chairperson Public Service Commission, the Vice Chairperson and Members of the Commission by His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki C.G.H., and pursuant to Article 234 of the Constitution, the Commission has established a working framework for effective Public Service Management.

The Commission is one of the institutions that has been bestowed with a wider mandate in the current constitutional dispensation. For the Commission to discharge the expanded mandate effectively and efficiently, an elaborate programme to forestall any hitches in the implementation process of the new mandate has been effected. Particularly, on:

1)    Role of the Commission in transition to devolved Governments
2)    Process of recommending the appointment of Principal Secretaries

Role of the Commission in transition to devolved Governments
    
  1.0)     Job Security for public officers during the transition period
One of the functions of the Public Service Commission both under the current and the repealed constitution is appointment of persons to hold or act in public offices.
Under the repealed constitution the function included appointment of officers in local authorities.
The constitution of Kenya 2010 changes the governance structures and establishes the National government and County governments.  The constitution further requires Parliament to enact legislation to provide for governance and management of urban areas and cities.
The fourth schedule of the constitution provides for distribution of functions between the national and county governments.  The functions assigned to the county governments and are currently being performed by officers appointed by the Public Service Commission and serving in local authorities, districts and former provinces now falling under the 47 counties.
Parliament has passed various legislations to operationalize the county governments.  The laws passed make provision for management of public officers in the transition as follows:
1.1)    Public offices in local authorities
The urban areas and cities Act at Section 57 provides:
“ Every person who immediately before the commencement of this Act was an officer agent or  member of staff  appointed, seconded or  otherwise employed by  a local authority shall on the commencement of the Act be seconded or otherwise deployed as may be provided by law.
1.2)    Civil servants in the counties
The county Government Act at section 138 provides:
Any public officer appointed by the Commission in exercise of the constitutional powers and functions before the coming into effect of this act and is serving in a county on the date of the constitution of that county government shall be deemed to be in the service of the county government on secondment from the national government within their terms of service as at that date and
(a) the officer’s terms of service including remuneration, allowances and pension or other benefits shall not be altered to the officer’s
disadvantage; and
(b) the officer shall not be removed from the service except in
accordance with the terms and conditions applicable to the officer as
at the date immediately before the establishment of the county
government or in accordance with the law applicable to the officer at
the time of commencement of the proceedings for the removal; and
(c) the officer’s terms and conditions of service may be altered to
officer’s advantage.

(2) Every public officer holding or acting in a public office to which the
Commission had appointed the officer as at the date of the establishment of the
county government shall discharge those duties in relation to the relevant
functions of the county government or national government, as the case may be.

(3) The body responsible for the transition to county governments shall in consultation with the Public Service Commission and relevant ministries facilitate the redeployment, transfers and secondment of staff to the national and county governments”
By virtue of the above provisions, Public Officers appointed by the Commission and serving in the county governments or designated urban areas and cities will still remain officers of the Public Service Commission serving on secondment by operation of law.
Once the county governments are constituted the Commission will formally second the officers.
The Commission is alive to the fact that the counties will not develop at the same pace.  There will be those counties which will pick up faster and seek for transfer of functions to them earlier and those which will be slow and consequently will require support for a longer period.
The Commission will work together with Transition Authority and county governments to ensure that the county governments are provided with the required human resource, and thus ensure service delivery is not disrupted.

2.0) PROCESS OF RECOMMENDING APPOINTMENT OF  PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES
The Public Service Commission is also mandated under Article 155 (3) to recommend persons to the President to be appointed as Principal Secretaries. Pursuant to this provision, the Commission has developed criteria for recommending persons to be nominated for appointment as Principal Secretaries.
This will be undertaken through a competitive process. The Commission will advertise the positions of Principal Secretaries in the print media. Interested and qualified persons will be expected to apply once the posts are advertised. Those shortlisted will undergo a rigorous and competitive recruitment processes after which the Commission will submit a diverse and representative list of qualified persons to enable the President nominate qualified persons to be appointed as Principal Secretaries as provided for in the Constitution.
For every vacant position, the Commission will recommend three persons to be considered for nomination. The Commission will ensure issues of diversity, gender, disability, the minorities and marginalized as stipulated in Articles 10, 27, 54, 56 and 232 (g), (h), and (i) are upheld.