Nairobi City irregularly hired 24 officers to provide security for Governor Kidero

Nairobi, Kenya: The local government yesterday came under fire over the alleged irregular hiring of 24 employees.

When the county assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) questioned acting County Secretary Gregory Mwakanongo yesterday, it emerged that the 24 security personnel were hired by the county in order to provide security services to Governor Evans Kidero.

Mr Mwakanongo and his team from the various departments had been summoned by PAC to answer to audit irregularities concerning hiring of county personnel and outstanding county imprests.

According to the committee, the process to hire the security personnel did not go through the right channels. The committee argued that there was no official letter from the human resource department requesting for the employment of the security personnel, which was contrary to custom procedure.

"The only letter that was received came from the office of the county secretary as opposed to the County Public Service Board," said PAC Chairman Robert Mbatia.

Mr Mbatia noted that two more names were 'sneaked' into the list after the security personnel was assimilated.

The security personnel were reportedly hired in November last year and were put on probation for the next six months, to provide for a basis on which they would be vetted based on their contract. "They were supposed to have been confirmed six months after they were hired, which has still not happened," he said.

Mwakanongo asked for more time to inquire on the matter and submit the findings to PAC.

"The automated system to ensure we recover imprest has already been deployed but delays with procurement are hindering implementation," the Mwakanongo added.