Friday May 12, 2023
A view of the new KEMSA warehouse in Embakasi Nairobi on April 4, 2023. Image: FILE
Kikuyus, Luos and Luhyas form the majority of staff at Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA), a report submitted by the entity to a Parliamentary committee shows.
The report revealed that Kikuyus are 171 (22.89 per cent), Luos are 130 (17.40 per cent) and Luhyas are 105 (14.06 per cent) of the total staff population of 747.
“KEMSA has complied with the National Cohesion and Integration Act 2008 by ensuring that the employees are diverse in terms of gender, age and ethnicity. No single ethnic group has more than a third of the staff with the highest being 22 per cent,” the report said.
Others are Kamba (85), Kalenjin (74), Kisii (56), Meru (37), Somali (24) and Sabaot (20).
The agency said it has fewer persons living with disabilities because of the nature of its operations.
“Due to the nature of our operations which requires physical energy to pick and load medical commodities, there is a need for us to recruit staff with certain demographics leanings; that is young and energetic people. Hence, our demographics will have fewer staff with disabilities,” the agency said.
The agency noted that it has modernised and mechanised its warehousing operations which will allow people with disabilities to work even in such an environment.
KEMSA promised to promote equal opportunities to all in employment.
“There shall be no discrimination based on gender, race, religion, colour, ethnicity, disability, marital status or culture,” it said.
The agency added that it has promoted 262 staff members cutting across all age categories in the last five years.