Editor's Review

  • Odinga noted that promotions in the civil service must also be based on merit.

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said that Nepotism, tribalism and favoritism have killed the civil service sector in the country.

In a statement outlining what he will do to improve service delivery to Kenyans, Odinga said that the three issues, which have demoralized many officers leaving them stuck on a system they believe does not appreciate them must be addressed.

“Frustrated officers stay on just to secure pension and turn to other ways to supplement income and get fulfillment. They become brokers where they are supposed to be moderators. The nation and citizens are the losers,” said Odinga.

The ODM leader went on to state other ways that can better the service to the people, including; elimination of conflict of interest, promoting creativity in the civil service, enhance the capacity of the civil service to engage in strategic thinking and create linkages between government and private sector, which he pointed out as the key to the success of the Grand Coalition Government.

Odinga noted that promotions in the civil service must also be based on merit.

“We must give our civil servants the assurance that if they work hard, maintain a clean record, exercise discipline, then nothing will stand between them and rising to the top,” he said.

The former Premier noted that Kenya has maintained a comparatively functional civil service that needs improvement and that he envisions a civil service defined by discipline, hard work, high morale, efficiency, and high ethical standards.

“I regard the Civil Service as the foundation of nation building and national development. Nations begin to fail when the civil service begins to fail,” said Odinga.