Civil servants now face the potential loss of permanent and pensionable employment as the government introduces plans to transition them to five-year renewable contracts contingent upon performance.
This proposal, which could impact over 1,054,425 public workers, forms part of a broader reform initiative aimed at enhancing accountability, improving service delivery, and aligning the workforce with an evolving, technology-driven landscape.
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku confirmed that the policy framework is finalized and will soon be presented to the Cabinet for evaluation.
“We are committed to transforming public service, and I will present our plans to the Cabinet committee next week, followed by a full Cabinet presentation,” Ruku stated on Thursday, February 26, 2026.
Under the proposed changes, public officers will enter into five-year contracts, with their performance dictating the renewal of their terms.
The initiative seeks to foster a results-driven culture within public service, ensuring that citizens receive timely and high-quality services.
Ruku emphasized that the nation’s youthful population demands faster, innovative, and digitized services, urging the government to develop a public service that is cohesive, technology-oriented, and responsive to citizens’ needs.
He made these remarks during the launch of the Public Service Commission Strategic Plan 2025-29 and the Citizen Service Delivery Charter at KICC, Nairobi.
The five-year strategic plan outlines reforms designed to enhance efficiency, accountability, professionalism, and citizen-centered governance across various ministries, departments, and agencies.
The strategy emphasizes the establishment of robust performance management systems to elevate productivity at institutional, departmental, and individual levels.
In a related development, the Cabinet recently approved payroll reforms aimed at addressing long-standing integrity issues within the government’s payroll system and ensuring uniform application of statutory deductions across all public entities.
During a Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi, on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, the Cabinet announced that this decision follows a special audit of the 2024/2025 financial year.
A communiqué shared by State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed revealed that the audit exposed serious governance and operational failures within the Government Human Resource Information System-Kenya (HRIS-K).
“The Cabinet has approved comprehensive payroll reforms to address persistent payroll integrity issues that have been neglected by successive administrations and to ensure uniform application of statutory deductions at source,” the communiqué stated.
The audit revealed widespread payroll discrepancies related to identity records, tax compliance, and bank accounts, exacerbated by poor system integration and the failure of approximately 300 state corporations to transition to HRIS-K.
One significant concern highlighted by the Cabinet was that 720 system editors modified over 4.7 million payroll records without audit trails, including instances where staff altered their own records, alongside a lack of essential cybersecurity measures.
Additionally, the audit identified financial irregularities related to unauthorized payments and excessive salary arrears, while inadequate disaster-recovery protocols and expired ICT licenses were flagged as substantial risks to public funds.
The Cabinet also received updates on immediate stabilization measures already implemented and approved a comprehensive reform roadmap.
These measures include mandatory security certification by March 11, 2026, deployment of forensic analytics to inform disciplinary and legal actions, a governance reset of HRIS-K, and full integration of a statutory deductions platform.
