Panic as government starts job cuts

 The government’s move to save up to Shs1 trillion through mergers of ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs) risks running into a speed bump after the first foray opened old wounds.

During the first quarter of the current financial year, the government struggled to find cash to meet many of its statutory obligations. As the government struggled to pay civil servants on its payroll, evidence pointed to acute economic austerity gaining traction. 
President Museveni, for instance, met the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party lawmakers in August to impress upon them the cost-cutting benefits of rationalising MDAs.

The President told the NRM parliamentary caucus that there are rich rewards in having “money-making parastatals” as opposed to “money-eating parastatals.” His successful pitch to the lawmakers came after the Cabinet gave the rationalisation process the green light on February 22, 2021. While the process will ultimately result in a lean civil service, the whittling down of public expenditure will take with it several jobs.

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There are 157 public agencies and 22 ministries—including the offices of the President and the Prime Minister—that the Public Service ministry put through the furnace. 
Ultimately, the ministry’s budget wonks recommended to Cabinet that out of the 157 agencies reviewed, 80 should be retained as semi-autonomous agencies; 33 agencies should have their mandate and functions mainstreamed to their relevant line ministries; 35 agencies should be consolidated or merged into 19 entities.

Saturday Monitor, however, understands that the process of absorbing the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) back into the Energy ministry is not going according to plan. The mainstreaming of REA is supposed to serve as a litmus test after the statutory instrument No.29 of 2021 endorsed rationalisation of MDAs.
Energy ministry officials at Amber House were tasked to work with the Public Service ministry and the Public Service Commission (PSC) to hammer out a roadmap for the rationalisation exercise that could strike down under 600 jobs.

According to accounts by people familiar with the matter and documents seen by Saturday Monitor, a committee was established to set parameters for the restructuring—including sieving, moving around, and compressing positions—that would serve as a basis for absorbing staff.
Saturday Monitor understands the committee worked out the modalities, including a new structure for the Energy ministry. The new structure also included abolishing positions of directors to be replaced by technical departments headed by a commissioner.
Henceforth, according to the new structure valued and approved by Cabinet, the Energy ministry will have a staff capacity of 230. A guesstimate puts the current number of staff at the ministry at over 600.

Moving the goalposts
From REA, which was created 19 years ago as part of the World Bank supported electricity reforms to specifically handle the government’s rural electrification function, the Energy ministry had recommended only 61 staff. Following protests, the ceiling was raised to 107. This means as many as 71 REA employees will be out of a job when the rationalisation exercise runs its course. A little over 450 employees of the Ministry of Energy will also ultimately be deemed surplus to requirements at Amber House.

Catherine Bitarakwate, the Public Service permanent secretary, advised Ms Irene Bateebe—her Energy ministry counterpart—in an August 25 correspondence “to implement [the changes] within the approved wage provisions for the financial 2022/2023.”
The earlier validation exercise also involved, among others, cross-referencing staff work experience and academic records to positions previously held.
It was discovered that some employees were not fit for roles entrusted to their care. Others either held positions beyond their pay grade or their academic credentials were patchy. 

Others either had poor grades than permitted or did not have the requisite academic qualifications for positions held, and for some there was not enough supporting documents to back up the positions they held.
A group of 14 former REA staff previously locked out of some jobs by way of recommendation appealed to the PSC in September, citing unfairness and irregular filing of vacancies. To their reprieve, the PSC secretary, Mr Godfrey Mbabazi, wrote back on October 4, stating thus: “After a careful study and consideration, members decided that the vacancies for mainstreaming of REA into the ministry be opened up only to REA staff who should be given chance to apply for positions for which they feel they qualify.”
The last weeks of applying for jobs through the PSC have come as a shock to Energy ministry officials. The Public Service ministry and PSC have—without explanation—discarded the new structure approved by Cabinet and scripted their own rule book, much to the consternation of the Energy ministry.

Dark arts
A raft of malevolent practices have rocked the job application and filling exercise. There have been instances of documents of some qualified staff being deliberately misplaced, or pulled from files. Two senior Energy ministry officials who attempted to protest the exercise have been threatened to “go slow.”
Ms Bateebe referred this newspaper to the PSC for comment on the matter.
Saturday Monitor has also seen internal correspondences from PSC insiders to selected staff, advising them on what to do. The aforesaid staff were also reminded “not to forget to attach the requisite documents” and how to manoeuvre around.
When contacted, Mr Mbabazi expressed surprise about the claims since the exercise is just ongoing.

“People sat interviews and I think we shall convene on Tuesday to evaluate and finalise,” Mr Mbabazi said via telephone on Friday, adding, “It is worth noting that initially, only a few staff had been recommended, but it was resolved that let all staff, whoever is eligible, apply and go through the process.”
Mr Mbabazi further revealed: “People applied and those who did not make it to the shortlist appealed and we have been handling those appeals. Even this (Friday) morning, I have just handled six appeals. We are currently dealing with only the issue of REA staff. If there are complaints by staff in the Ministry of Energy, that we shall deal with later.”
Asked about discarding the new agreed structure, Mr Mbabazi said he could not authoritatively comment about it.

“I think that is the old structure that the ministry had,” he opined, adding, “The issue here is that not everyone will be absorbed and that is where the anxiety is. Even if it were you after working for 10 to 15 years and were about to lose the job, you wouldn’t be amused.”
Across the hallowed corridors of many government agencies and departments where one cannot swing a cat without hitting a loyal cadre or a relative of the politically-connected, more drama has unfurled during the Energy ministry- PSC showdown.

Bending the rules?
In some instances, according to internal correspondences, staff with patchy academic records or without documents have been recommended for some jobs beyond their pay grade. In other cases, either the age limit has been amended to accommodate some people or terms of references altered to give candidates an edge. Official deadlines for submission of documents have been extended more than thrice to suit some candidates.
This newspaper is withholding the names and the positions because the process is said to be ongoing.
There are also a few instances of staff who had left REA years back, but curiously crept back on the shortlist for some jobs.

Background
Warning sign?
The episode illuminates the dark cloud hovering over the merger of more agencies and authorities in the coming months—the fight for who stays, and the connected staff fervently lobbying to be retained, which poses an uneven playing field in the public service long tainted by cronyism and nepotism.
If the squabbles around the collapsing of REA into the Energy ministry are anything to go by, the government appears to be in for a long ride as it looks to save Shs1 trillion through a rationalisation exercise. 

With as many as 67 agencies set to follow REA in either being collapsed or mainstreamed, thousands of jobs will be cut. 
Civil servants working with the agencies in question will be looking over their shoulder as they also deal with a cost of living squeeze.