Ghost workers still getting paid a year down the line

Nakuru county public service board chairman Dr. Waithanji Mutiti (left) chatting with Nakuru journalist after a breakfast meeting at a Nakuru hotel on October 13,2014 .PHOTO:KIPSANG JOSEPH

Nakuru; Kenya: The government of Nakuru is yet to act on a staff audit report showing it is paying some 300 ghost workers it inherited from the defunct local authorities.

The audit was carried out by an independent institution hired by county public service board last year to verify the actual number of staff, their roles and qualifications.

During the audit only 1,400 employees out of the documented 1,700 presented themselves for the head count that was carried out between September and October 2013.

But County Public Service Board Chairman Waithanji Mutiti says it is still in the process of harmonising the county payroll and the audit report before taking any further steps.

The board defended itself over allegations of corruption, bias and favouritism in staff recruitment. This is in the wake of an investigation being carried out by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission over alleged corrupt practices by members.

Mutiti said the the board is awaiting a report of the preliminary investigation conducted in August to determine the next course of action.

Mutiti made the remarks during a media breakfast meeting organised by the board to brief journalists on its functions, achievements and future goals.

The audit report was handed over to Governor Kinuthia Mbugua last year.

Nakuru County has a total of 5,000 employees including those seconded from the national government by the Transition Authority, former local government staff and those recently employed by the board.

Mutiti, however, said the workforce would be trimmed after the completion of a biometric registration being carried out jointly by the national and county governments through the Ministry for Devolution.

During the deliberations with the media, the board further revealed that the county has a huge number of staff with little or no competence at all, saying a process of evaluating them was underway.

He said the intention was to ensure that they retain only skilled labour.

"We have completed the recruitment of directors in almost all departments and we are in the process of releasing the names of sub-county administrators," said Mutiti.

He regretted that the process of recruiting the sub-county administrators had taken long due to allegations that some applicants had submitted dubious academic testimonials.

TWO TRIBES

"The board is in the process of scrutinising the academic credentials submitted by the applicants, and even those who are employees of the county, to try and authenticate their certificates," said the chairman.
The names will be released sometime next month, said Peter Mbae, a member of the board who accompanied the chairman to the meeting.
The two dismissed claims of bad blood between the board and the executive, saying recruitment of staff was being done above board in line with the laid down regulations.
"The board receives a request from the executive and employees in line with the requirements stated therein," said Mbae.

Mbae said the board was never involved in the recruitment of county ministers saying the detection of bogus degree certificates and claims of employment of alleged corrupt senior officers at the county should not be blamed on them.

The county has been at the centre of a storm after it emerged that some of the senior officials were in possession of bogus academic qualifications while others faced corruption allegations in their previous postings and were employed before being cleared.

The board denied claims of nepotism and favouritism in the process of hiring staff, saying the two dominant communities in the county had been given preference in line with the laid down regulations.

"The law is clear about ethnic balancing in counties and what the Public Service Board has done is to ensure that 70 per cent of the positions go to two dominant communities while the remaining is distributed among other ethnic groups residing in the county," said the board's vice chair Monicah Cherutich.