By Brian Kiprono - Reporter
Kenya, January 29 2026 - Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has put civil servants on notice, ordering government offices to keep their communication channels open and their staff at their desks, warning that poor responsiveness is eroding public trust.
During inspection visits to government offices in Kisumu, Ruku said many ministries, departments and agencies were failing Kenyans through inactive emails, unanswered calls and empty offices during working hours.
He stressed that contact details published by government offices must work and be attended to, saying broken channels only frustrate citizens seeking services.
“If we have emails in our offices, those emails must be working. If they are not working, just remove those emails from our websites. Because they send information in some of those emails. But the response is not there,” he stated.
The CS linked effective communication directly to service delivery, arguing that citizens who pay taxes deserve timely feedback and reliable access to government offices.
Ruku also raised concern over lateness and absenteeism among public officers, saying punctuality should not be optional in the public service.
“So the people of Kenya are demanding that we be in our offices at the right time. So that they can also save time and can be able to plan themselves properly. When we are not in our offices at the right time, we send a very wrong signal,” he said.
He singled out the State Department for Immigration as a model of efficiency, noting that officers in Kisumu and in other towns he has visited — including Mombasa, Nakuru, Nyeri and Embu — reported to work by 8:00 a.m.
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“Kenyans have paid for the services through taxes, and so the people are demanding that we be at our offices at the right time,” Ruku said, publicly thanking immigration officers for setting the pace.
At the same time, the CS directed human resource managers across ministries to enforce discipline more firmly. He accused some HR units of failing to ensure officers are present and responsive, and ordered them to take corrective action against habitual latecomers and absentees.
Ruku warned that technology would soon tighten oversight in the public service, saying officers who ignore reporting times should “pull up their socks” before new systems expose poor attendance.
He also asked HR managers to submit monthly reports on calls and enquiries from the public, saying the data would help improve accountability and efficiency.
His directives come against a backdrop of past communication failures in government, including instances where public hotlines and emergency contacts have gone silent, leaving citizens without help when it was most needed.
With reforms under way, including plans to streamline the government payroll and attendance systems by April 2026, Ruku signalled a tougher approach to performance in public offices.
