NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 22 – Civil servants are being challenged to view their work as more than a contractual obligation.
Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei urged state employees to see their roles as a “covenant with a higher power,” where integrity, patience, and ethical service become acts of public devotion.
In a direct appeal to the conscience of the state bureaucracy, the Chief of Staff argued that the resilience of a public servant is predicated on viewing their mandate through a spiritual lens.
“When you view your job description not just as a contract with the state but as a covenant with a higher power, everything changes,” Koskei told the congregation.
Speaking to senior officials at All Saints Cathedral during the third Presidential Thanksgiving Service for Public Servants, Koskei acknowledged operational challenges such as limited resources and bureaucratic inefficiencies. Yet, he stressed that these should not lead to complacency.
Koskei urged the cadre of senior officers to revert to the foundational zeal of their initial tenure, asserting that the “hardening of hearts” due to administrative fatigue poses a direct threat to the efficacy of the state’s social contract with its citizenry.
Deputy Head of Public Service Amos Gathecha echoed his boss remarks by emphasizing that senior officers are custodians of public resources and guardians of societal hope.