Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Kenyans can now file real time complaints against government employees who are absconding duty in a radical move aimed at taming the conundrum of absenteeism in the public service.

Public Service Commission (PSC) said it has set up a Citizen Contact Centre (CCC) where disgruntled Kenyans will report lazy and skiving civil servants.

It comes even as Treasury acting Cabinet secretary Ukur Yatani warned counties against flouting the government’s directive on employment freeze. 

He accused counties of converting themselves into employment bureaus in total disregard of the ballooning government wage bill.

“Currently, most County governments are spending over 60 per cent of their budgets on salaries, which leaves very little or no funds for development, hence little value to the tax payer. This trend needs to be reversed,” he said when he unveiled the PSC strategic plan 2019-2024.

Restore professionalism

PSC chair Stephen Kirogo exuded confidence the contact centre will help restore professionalism in the public sector, with those absconding duty at risk of getting sacked.

“You will no longer put a post saying ‘I will be back soon’ and then you disappear for two weeks…the commission will endeavour to respond to the issues raised by citizens in consultation with respective MDAs within the shortest time possible.

The feedback from the citizens will also help the commission to identify and document the pain-points in service delivery with a view to effecting corrective action and appropriate interventions,” he said.

Yatani said employment freeze will free up funds for the development budget. He also cautioned government agencies against pilferage of State coffers through remittance of salaries to ghost workers.

The 2019-2024 strategic plan, which also saw the unveiling of PSC’s new logo, is the second to be launched by the commission since the promulgation of the Constitution.