Illegal hirings in Nakuru County done in secret, probe team told

Governor Kinuthia Mbugua. He said the county had a bloated workforce of 7,000 employees whose pay swallows up 43.5 per cent of its annual budget. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

Vicious boardroom wrangles and interference by the Executive may have contributed to the unlawful recruitment of staff by the Nakuru County Public Service Board, an investigative committee was told.

The committee set up by the county assembly to investigate the irregular hiring of 200 employees was told that differences among the seven members of the Board began to emerge in February 2015.

“We started out as a cohesive team in 2013, but we are now sharply divided as a result of the employment scam," said Richard Ochieng Tuta, a board member.

Mr Tuta and another board member Peter Mwarania, who appeared before the ad hoc committee, said they were blacklisted when they began to question these actions. 

The two were among four members of the board who appeared before the team chaired by Dundori Ward MCA Steve Kihara. They claimed board chairman Waithanji Muteti and secretary James Mbugua may have been behind the scheme to irregularly hire these workers.

“They kept us in the dark on key activities, including important communications,” Tuta told the committee.

When he appeared before the team last Tuesday, Dr Muteti was declared a hostile witness and ejected from the proceedings after he refused to answer questions.

Speaker Susan Kihika  set up the probe  after members adopted a report by another committee that had been set up to investigate the recruitment of sub-county administrators, ward administrators and casual workers in 2014 and 2015.

That committee had recommended the suspension of the Board over the unauthorised recruitment. It also sanctioned the sacking of some 36 administrative officers it said were hiredunlawfully.

The county’s bloated workforce has raised concern, with the Senate calling for a forensic audit to ascertain the exact number of staff in the payroll besides seeking to know their roles and qualifications.

When he appeared before the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month, Governor Kinuthia Mbugua said the county had a bloated workforce of 7,000 employees whose pay swallows up 43.5 per cent of its annual budget.

On Wednesday, Mr Tuta, who chairs the Promotions, Discipline and Staff Welfare committee, told the ad hoc committee that some board members were locked out of county offices when the employment scam was exposed.

“Some of us were denied access to documents. We even worked from the streets since no one was willing to give us a place to work from,” he told the committee chaired by Kihara.

Asked whether the entire board was involved in making key decisions as required by the law, Tuta disowned letters by the board secretary authorising the recruitment of 21 administrative officers.

“Most communication from the board is done by the secretary without the knowledge of board members,” he said, referring to a letter dated April 17, 2015.

The letter was in response to a request by Philip Sigei, the public service management chief officer, who had asked the board to recruit 10 more deputy sub-county administrators and 11 ward administrators.
The board then recruited the 21 employees the following day.

Tuta and Mwarania separately denied sitting in meetings to recruit the 21 officers. However before this, the board had sanctioned the recruitment of 80 ward administrators.

Both Tuta and Mwarania said it was unlawful for County Secretary Joseph Motari to write and sign some of the appointment letters since the law allows only the Board and chief officers to issue these letters.

“As the Board, we would shortlist applicants, interview them and recommend their suitability for employment to the respective chief officers who would then write appointment letters, and not the County Secretary,” Mwarania said.

The county wage bill soared in recent years from Sh2.1 billion in the 2013/14  to  Sh5.250 billion currently.

It is believed that some 200 employees were hired between May 1 and September 2015 and their names inserted in the county payroll without the approval of the county assembly.

An audit of the county payroll conducted in January further revealed that another 2,000 workers were unlawfully promoted, costing the county over Sh100 million.
The report that was tabled before the committee by the two Board members further revealed that nine employees changed job groups three times within a span of six months.