Treasury stops polls agency from hiring senior managers

National Treasury CS Henry Rotich and his PS Dr. Kamau Thugge during their meeting with Senate Assembly Finance and Budget Committee on the proposed amendment on County allocation of revenue at County hall, Nairobi. [Boniface Okendo/ Standard]

Positions of three directors -human resource, legal affairs and procurement - up for grabs following retirement and sackings at poll commission.

The National Treasury has slammed brakes on a planned recruitment of senior managers to replace those who either retired or got sacked from the electoral agency.

The Treasury, in a letter to Acting CEO of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Marjan Hussein Marjan, said the commission had not obtained relevant approval for the exercise.

The letter by Treasury PS Kamau Thuge dated April 24 said IEBC failed to adhere to the requirement that all new recruitment remain frozen as per the Treasury circular No. 2/2018.

Lean staff

“Considering the tight budgetary framework underpinning the FY2018/19 and the medium term budget and the fact that the elections are over, we recommend the IEBC to carry out the job evaluation to determine the workload of new positions first,” Mr Thuge said.

“IEBC should also review the current organisation structure after carrying out a job evaluation with a view of having lean permanent staff and explore possibility of hiring temporary staff when necessary, especially during general elections.” On April 11, the commissions advertised the positions of three directors (human resource, legal affairs and procurement) just days after sending CEO Ezra Chiloba on compulsory leave. Qualified candidates were requested to submit their application on the commission job portal by April 13, 2018. Shortlisted applicants will be required to avail clearances from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and Higher Education Loans Board (Helb).

They were further requested to provide clearance from professional bodies where applicable.

And just two days after advertising the jobs, IEBC called for expression of interest from qualified human resource firms to offer consultancy services in the recruitment.

“The consultancy firm will undertake the initial interview with appropriate recommendations for final selection of the successful candidates for the positions of director supply chain management, director legal and public affairs and director human resource management and administration,” a public notice appearing on the Standard last Friday reads in part.

Interested firms have been given just a week to put in their bids, with the deadline being Friday, April 20.

Last year, IEBC sent away its director of procurement Lawy Aura for allegedly bungling major procurement deals, among them to Sh2.5 billion tender for ballot papers.