Government halts public sector recruitment due to budget cuts

Cabinet Secretary for the Civil Service, Moses Kuria, has suspended further recruitment of civil servants.

In a circular, the CS directed the Civil Service Commission to conduct new and ongoing recruitment, including ongoing interviews for shortlisted candidates in the civil service.

Kuria announced that future public sector recruitment will be justified by genuine operational needs.

This move has become necessary due to the austerity measures announced by the President following the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 and is also in line with the Public Finance Management Act 2012, which stipulates that public wage bills in Kenya shall not exceed 35 percent of the national budget.

For this reason, a tripartite committee comprising representatives from the Ministry of Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management, the Ministry of Treasury and Economic Planning and the Public Service Commission will be established to evaluate the ongoing recruitment initiatives.

During the suspension of employment, the government will audit and clean up all public payrolls.

“Therefore, given the expected budget cuts as part of the ongoing fiscal rationalization, I request you to halt all new recruitment and all ongoing, pending recruitment. During the suspension of employment, the government will audit and clean up all public payrolls,” the CS said.

“I am writing this letter to request that you suspend new and ongoing recruitment, including ongoing interviews of shortlisted candidates in the civil service, while you await the establishment of the tripartite committee to process key applications in line with the country’s fiscal situation,” he added.

The circular was copied to Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, Minister of Finance CS Njuguna Ndung’u and State Department Principal Secretary for Public Service Amos Gathecha.

While presenting the 2024/25 budget to Parliament on 13 June 2024, CS Ndung’u froze the recruitment of government staff for one year in order to bring runaway recurrent expenditure under control and align with whole-of-government austerity measures.