The State Department for Public Service and Human Capital Development is facing scrutiny over Sh411.3 million in outstanding bills, alleged ethnic imbalance in its workforce and failure to meet the legal threshold for employing persons with disabilities.
The concerns were raised during a review of the Auditor-General’s report by the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Butere MP Tindi Scott Mwale, as lawmakers examined the department’s financial accountability and compliance with public service regulations.
The audit for the financial year ended June 30, 2025, established that the department had Sh411,319,567 in trade and other payables, including Sh383,706,670 in outstanding trade bills.
Of the trade bills, Sh169,551,942, representing 44 per cent, had remained unpaid for more than two years, raising concerns over the department’s management of financial obligations.
In its response, the department attributed the pending bills partly to delays in the release of funds by the National Treasury, saying it had processed expenditure transactions but had not received all the requested exchequer funds.
“The department processed all transactions of expenditure utilized but failed to receive the requested exchequer,” the management response stated.
The department, through Principal Secretary Imbunya, said it would continue following up with the Treasury to secure the outstanding funds.
The committee also questioned the department’s compliance with ethnic diversity requirements after the audit found that 117 of its 294 employees, equivalent to 40 per cent, came from one ethnic community.
The imbalance was also evident in senior positions, with 34 per cent of employees in job groups P to U drawn from the same community.
The findings raise concerns over compliance with Section 7(2) of the National Cohesion and Integration Act, 2008, which requires public institutions to ensure that no more than one-third of their workforce comes from a single ethnic community.
“All public institutions need to represent the diversity of the people of Kenya. It is sad that they are breaching the law,” Mwale said.
Committee Vice Chairperson Amina Udgoon Siyad urged the department to demonstrate leadership in promoting inclusivity and ensuring qualified Kenyans from different communities have equal opportunities in public service.
Responding to the concerns, Imbunya said staff transfers and deployments from other ministries had affected the department’s ethnic composition despite efforts to achieve regional balance during recruitment.
“These movements, while necessary for operational efficiency, inadvertently disrupted the ethnic balance initially achieved through equitable recruitment,” she said.
The principal secretary pledged to conduct an ethnic diversity audit and prioritise under-represented communities in future recruitment, while maintaining merit-based selection.
The audit further established that persons with disabilities accounted for approximately three per cent of the department’s workforce, falling short of the statutory minimum of five per cent. The department attributed the gap partly to recruitment challenges and staff movements.
Other unresolved audit concerns included incomplete asset records, questions surrounding the legal status of the Huduma Kenya Secretariat, the absence of a lease agreement with the Postal Corporation of Kenya and weaknesses in succession planning.
The department also reported a funding shortfall of approximately Sh3.60 billion in the 2023/2024 financial year, having received Sh22.84 billion against a final receipts budget of Sh26.45 billion.
The committee’s review places the department’s financial management, workforce diversity and compliance with employment requirements under scrutiny as lawmakers seek answers to the outstanding audit issues.