Kacc zeroes in on hiring scandal at Ongeri ministry

The graft watchdog is studying allegations of corruption in the recruitment of 2,500 junior staff at the Ministry of Education.

“Once we have evidence of culpability we will take appropriate action,” a Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission official said of the employees set to be sacked next week in one of the biggest jobs scandals in government.

The sacking, ordered by the Public Service Commission (PSC), follows an audit that revealed massive irregularities in their recruitment.

On Monday, Prof Karega Mutahi, who was permanent secretary under Prof Sam Ongeri at the time, said in a statement that he left the ministry in mid-February before the interviews.

“However, before I left, I had established a system for validation of all applicants to ensure that everyone was in the computer list. I then appointed a committee chaired by one of my deputy secretaries to make sure that short listing was purely on merit and that no short cuts were allowed.”

Prof Mutahi said the committee chairman was responsible for ensuring the process was handled ethically and that employment was by merit.

On Monday, Kenya National Union of Civil Servants secretary-general Tom Odege opposed the planned mass sacking, saying it will be wrong for the government to punish people who had already entered the service.

“The new staff did not commit any offence. The people who oversaw the exercise are known and they should be brought to book,” he said.

Meanwhile, some of the employees who were interviewed by PSC, recruited and later deployed in different stations said they had worked for more than six months without pay.

“It is only after the story on the jobs scandal that I realised why I had not been paid for the last six months,” said the employee at Jogoo House.

The Treasury audit says the recruitment, selection and appointment of the workers did not follow regulations and instructions governing staffing in government.

The affected 2,588 staff were hired as adult education teachers, library assistants, supply chain officers, clerical officers, electricians, artisans, plumbers and storemen. The PSC had delegated the hiring to the Education ministry.

The new revelation follows an audit by the Treasury showing the ministry could not account for around Sh8.4 billion over a four-year period.

The July last year audit found Sh234 million of education funding could not be properly accounted for, prompting the subsequent audit that has unearthed a much bigger problem.