Background and History

The promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya on 27 August 2010 introduced a two-tier system of government: the national government and 47 county governments. Article 6(2) describes these as distinct and interdependent governments that must conduct their mutual relations on the basis of consultation and cooperation. Article 176 established a county government for each county, and Article 235 vested in each county the responsibility for its own public service.

To give effect to Article 235, Parliament enacted the County Governments Act, 2012. Section 57 of the Act established a County Public Service Board in each county, and section 59 set out the Board's functions. Following the first general election under the new Constitution in March 2013, county governments took office and the first County Public Service Boards were constituted. These Boards undertook the historic task of building a county public service: absorbing officers devolved from the national government and the defunct local authorities, and recruiting new staff to deliver devolved functions such as county health services, agriculture, early childhood development education, county roads, trade, and water services.

In those formative years, Boards confronted common questions with little precedent: how to harmonise schemes of service inherited from different employers; how to rationalise staff establishments; how to balance local representation with the constitutional requirement of diversity; and how to manage personnel costs within the limits set by the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 and its regulations. Recognising that these questions were better answered together, Board chairpersons and secretaries began meeting to share experiences. These consultations matured into the National Consultative Forum for County Public Service Boards, an association governed by its own Constitution and Rules.

Milestones