By Eddah Waithaka
State Department for Public Service pledges full support to professionalise HR sector and mandates CHRP certification for all practitioners
Principal Secretary Dr. Jane Kere Imbunya has declared that every human resource professional in Kenya shares ownership of her appointment and must partner with her to transform the public service.
“I cannot achieve anything in that office alone, the mandate is too wide,” Dr. Imbunya told a packed press briefing at the Human Resource Management Professionals Examinations Board (HRMPEB) headquarters.
“Today, I remind you that you are partners in that appointment and partners in that mandate. You are partners in the realization of the vision of that State Department.”
The PS, whom President William Ruto recently reappointed to head the State Department for Public Service and Human Capital Development, delivered a spirited address outlining sweeping changes that will reshape the HR profession nationwide.
Dr. Imbunya announced that the State Department will soon issue a circular making Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP) certification mandatory for anyone practising HR in Kenya.
“Very soon we will draw a circular which will require everybody who wants to call themselves a practitioner of HR to have a CHRP,” she stated. “Please do it now before there is a rush. That CHRP confirms that you are certified, and the person to certify you is where I stand today. The doors are open. We do not have a limited number, I encourage all of you to do so.”
The directive aims to professionalise the sector and ensure only qualified practitioners handle workforce management across all institutions.
Recognition of Prior Learning Opens Doors for Experienced Professionals
The board unveiled a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme as the primary vehicle to increase enrollment and certify thousands of experienced practitioners currently working without formal qualifications.
“This terminology recognition of prior learning is trying to answer all these questions,” Dr. Imbunya explained. “We’ll increase our enrollment regardless of the gender issues.”
HRMPEB Chairperson CHRP Wycliffe Nyakina detailed the programme’s implementation strategy. “We are going to roll out a nationwide certification assistance programme requiring all those in public service national government, county governments, constitutional commissions, and parastatals, who meet the RPL criteria to get certified,” Nyakina stated.
The board will work directly with public servants who possess extensive experience but lack formal credentials, guiding them through certification and onto the official register of certified CHRPs.
Career Progression Now Tied to Certification
Public servants holding CHRP qualifications will soon receive formal recognition within government career progression instruments.
“We have agreed that career progression in the public service will recognise those who are certified CHRPs, those with C-PET qualifications, C-PET diplomas, and C-PET certificates,” Nyakina announced.
“They will be brought into the career progression programme and recognised in public service instruments.”
He confirmed the private sector typically adopts similar standards, meaning the reforms will benefit HR professionals across Kenya’s entire economy.
TVET Partnerships Create Pathways for Youth
The board will partner with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions to establish examination centres, creating alternative pathways for students who did not achieve the C+ grade.
“Students who scored D and C minus can come directly to CHRP, starting from certificate and diploma levels, to train and become certified CHRPs,” Nyakina explained.
Dual certification programmes with universities will allow young people to pursue HR certification alongside their degree studies.
Board Achieves Financial Sustainability Despite Minimal Funding
Dr. Imbunya praised the board’s remarkable financial management, noting it operates effectively despite receiving minimal government allocation.
“This is one of the institutions under my watch that receives very little funding, but you can see they continue to operate and are coming up with strategies and models to make their own money,” she said. “They have grown their figures in the tens, twenties, and thirties.”
Board Chairperson Nyakina confirmed sustainability remains central to their strategy.”We have examined our financials, our examination processes, and staffing issues,” he said.
“The vision we have set with management and the board is a whole-of-board approach strategy. We are going to break all the silos, hold each other’s hands, and work together to achieve our mandate.”
PS Addresses Gender Balance Concerns
Responding to questions about perceived gender imbalance in the profession, Dr. Imbunya dismissed the notion that HR remains female-dominated.
“It is a stereotype,” she asserted. “In the State Department that I run, you find that I have more male HRs. It’s just something engraved in the minds of Kenyans. The ratios do not show so much disparity.”
She encouraged both boys and girls to join the profession, describing HR as “such a prestigious profession because every workforce in an institution belongs to you. Nobody can do anything without you determining what their roles are, what their workload is.”
Values Must Guide Practitioners
Dr. Imbunya concluded with a charge to all HR professionals across the country.”I want you to be guided by two major values integrity and fairness,” she said.
“Be fair in what you do and do it with a lot of integrity. Help the ministry to identify talent, but help the ministry to develop that talent and to retain that talent.”
The board expects certification numbers to surge within the next year as the RPL programme rolls out nationwide and the mandate deadline approaches.
“Our trajectory is really positive,” the CEO added. “We are an inclusive organisation. We do not want to leave behind the youth. The youth are not just our future, they are our current professionals, and we do not want to leave them behind.”
