Charity Kisotu 

The passing on of the Public Service Commission chair Stephen Kinyanjui Kirogo last week caps an illustrious public service career spanning over 35 years.

He became the commission’s second chair under the current Constitution in August 2018, succeeding Prof Margaret Kobia who had been appointed Cabinet Secretary the same year. 

Kirogo had risen steadily through the ranks of the civil service from humble beginnings in 1984 as Assistant Secretary, District Officer, District Commissioner, Senior Assistant Secretary, Undersecretary, Deputy Secretary/Personal Assistant to Head of the Public Service, Secretary to the State Corporations Advisory Committee and finally the Principal Administrative Secretary/Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet. 

Upon joining PSC, Kirogo embarked on a situational analysis with particular attention on the exercise of its mandate and eventually led to a new organisational focus and strategic direction.

He was passionate about transforming public service delivery and constantly reminded commissioners and staff that everything the public service did was meant to have a positive impact on the citizens.

The vision of the commission — ‘A Citizen-Centric Public Service’ and its rallying call ‘Reform, Perform, Transform Kenya’ were a result of this concern in an effort to refocus the role of the commission. 

He entrenched a performance culture and established a new Directorate of Performance and Service Delivery Transformation within the commission to focus sufficient attention towards improving performance and promoting efficiency and effectiveness.

Alongside this, he spearheaded the development of PSC (Performance Management) Regulations which are due for consideration by the National Assembly. 

With hindsight drawn from over 30 years working in the civil service, Kirogo clearly understood the discordance in the public service with regard to Human Resource practice.

One of the flagship projects he keenly followed through was the need to develop HR Masterplan for public service with the aim of ensuring HR issues are at the forefront of the national development agenda and that people issues are given prominence in leadership discussions.

He ensured a human face to every decision made. PSC is now regarded as a place where solutions are found and not the closed institution he found. 

Kirogo was a hands-on leader with deep concern for the welfare of public servants.

The first assignment he embarked on was reforms in pension payments. He was pained that a retired public officer had to wait for years before receiving a pension after years of committed service.

He was committed to ensuring there would be seamless transition from salary to pension.

He launched the Pensions Rapid Results Initiative that saw the elimination of bottlenecks in the processing of pension and clearing of a huge backlog of pension claims. 

His concern for the plight of citizens who were constantly complaining about inefficiency in the public service saw him passionately pursue the agenda of putting the citizen at the centre of public service.

This saw the commission establish a contact centre that would enable citizens contact PSC with complaints or compliments.

He often said if citizens were unhappy, then the public service was not working for them. Any citizen, regardless of status, was able to access him at his office. 

He brought a human face to public service. His concern for the thousands of unemployed youths prompted PSC to establish the Public Service Internship Programme that has so far given opportunities to 8,770 graduates to acquire industry experience. He believed in youth’s potential as drivers of the economy. 

Kirogo was compassionate and humane. He constantly reminded the commission staff not to be transactional but to always remember each letter and file represented a human being with a family and feelings.

It is this concern for public servants that saw him initiate the review of structures and implementation of the succession management programme in ministries.

The result was the promotion of many public officers. He often said no public servant should leave the service bitter. 

Within the commission, Kirogo ensured the promotion of 119 lower cadre staff and had set in motion the review of the commission’s structure and promotion of senior staff. 

On the regional scene, Kirogo was the Vice President of the Association of African Public Services Commissions. He was, therefore, not only passionate about service to the Kenyan public but also service to the whole of Africa. 

The Commission and indeed the entire public service will endeavour to immortalise Kirogo’s great works by ensuring his vision and dream of a better public service that is fit-for-purpose, dynamic and citizen centric is realised. – The writer is vice chairperson, Public Service Commission