Public servants across all government agencies in Kenya have been directed to clear their accrued annual leave days by the 2023/2024 financial year ending June 30, 2024.
Speaking during a consultative forum at the Kenya School of Government on Thursday, Head of Public Service Felix Kosgei announced that from July 1, 2024 onwards, civil servants will only be allowed to carry over a maximum of 15 leave days annually. In addition, they will no longer be able to receive cash payments in lieu of taking their accrued leave days.
“If you have to go for two years, just go,” Kosgei said, emphasizing that public officers should take extended periods of leave if needed to deplete their balances.
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The directives aim to increase efficiency in the public sector by ensuring proper skills transfer when employees take time off. Kosgei expressed concern that some civil servants are “afraid” to take leave for fear that their incompetence will be exposed in their absence.
“You can’t commute your days into money, we cannot pay for corruption or inefficiency,” he asserted.
During the meeting, Kosgei also outlined a “Zero Fault Audit Campaign” that will require all government ministries, departments, agencies and parastatals to close prior years’ audit queries by October 2, 2023. They should also not incur any new audit issues in the upcoming 2023/2024 financial year.
Mandatory legal audits will be introduced across the public sector to monitor compliance with regulations and mitigate unnecessary legal disputes that drain taxpayer funds.
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To incentivize exemplary performance, Kosgei launched the Public Service Exemplary Leaders – Stellar Performance Awards Scheme which will recognize ministries, agencies and individuals who overachieve their mandates and demonstrate public service values.
He instructed regulatory agencies to spearhead reforms aligned with the new administration’s Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda for wealth creation at the grassroots level.
The Head of Public Service warned in strong terms that the government will not tolerate public officers who resist taking leave simply to hoard their positions.
“Let us mentor others to take over after us by giving them a chance,” Kosgei appealed to the forum attendees. He advised that principal secretaries and chairs of state corporations should commence leave plans immediately.
