Claims of graft and nepotism mar hiring of census staff

• Merit thrown out the window, mourn jobless and leaders over the August head count jobs

Claims of irregularities have hit the ongoing recruitment of 130,000 staff to oversee the national census next month.

Many reports from across the country reveal massive allegations of corruption and favouritism in the hiring of supervisors and enumerators for the exercise scheduled for the night of August 24-25.

The officials are expected to earn much of the Sh7.3 billion allocated to the National Population and Housing Census whose aim is to bring out the latest demographic statistics in the country.

The recruitment is taking place in different districts in the country.

In Nandi, chaos erupted after a senior district officer beat a teacher who had demanded to know why his application, alongside those of his colleagues, was rejected.

The teacher ran into trouble for questioning why the administrator was allegedly asking for bribes and rejecting applications from teachers who applied for the jobs.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers Nandi North branch secretary, Mr Josephat Serem, urged the government to take disciplinary action against the administrator.

“The union will also take legal action against the official,” he said.

Crying foul

The assaulted teacher, Mr John Kurgat, was treated at Kapsabet District Hospital.

Mr Serem urged the government to investigate complaints of corruption in the recruitment.

Political leaders in Nandi North and Nandi Central districts have also been accused of asking the provincial administration officials to give jobs to their relatives.

A confidant of a senior politician was ejected from a recruitment centre by irate job-seekers who booed him and told him to leave the job for youths.

In Baringo, leaders are crying foul over what they described as unfairness in the recruitment of senior officers to preside over the exercise in the area.

Took issue

Leaders, among them Seguton Ward councillor Joshua Matetai, complained to the media in Kabarnet Town about the post of senior supervisor.

“We have equally qualified locals, but the recruiting officers have gone ahead and appointed heads of government departments at the district for the post, locking out many residents,” complained Mr Matetai.

They also took issue with the failure of the government to include the local authority in the census panel, saying they were left out so that they do not question malpractices in the exercise.