BackAn investigation by the Commission on Administrative Justice, Kenya’s Office of the Ombudsman, has faulted the Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) – a state agency that deals with the transportation of petroleum products – with favouritism in a recent recruitment in which 33 new staffers were hired. The investigation established that the recruitment did not adhere to the principle of inclusivity and diversity as required by law.
The Ombudsman sought to among other things establish the ethnic distribution of the 33 new employees, and that of the entire staff complement. The Constitution of Kenya demands that appointments reflect the diversity of the people of Kenya. Whereas KPC denied the allegations, they could not authoritatively negate them – nowhere in his response to an inquiry by the Commission did the Managing Director, Mr Charles Tanui, deny hiring 13 out of 33 employees from his Community. Mr Tanui also failed to provide a tabulation of the 33 new recruits, their ethnicity as well as their counties of origin as requested by the Commission.
A scrutiny of the entire staff complement of the Corporation revealed an over-representation of some ethnicities and dominance beyond expected levels relative to the census, with the three largest communities taking 42 per cent of the employment slots.
Source: Commission on Administrative Justice, KENYA
