Governors demand Sh180bn from govt to trim 25,000 workers
Council of Governors chairman Peter Munya at a fundraiser in Nkubu, Meru County on February 6, 2016. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Counties went on employment craze even after they inherited 25,000 workers from the defunct local authorities.
- Governors want the national government to pay the send-off package for the 25,000 workers.
Devolution experts say the problem is as a result of gaps in the law and a lack of political goodwill to streamline the public service system.
Governors want Sh180 billion from the national government to pay off 25,000 workers they inherited from the defunct local authorities.
An audit by the Devolution Ministry showed that county governments had an excess of 25,000 workers who should be released, but who governors now say, the national government should foot the send-off bill.
“Counties do not have any money to lay off excess workers. It is up to the national government to give us the way forward because counties cannot carry the burden of the Sh180 billion,” Council of Governors chairman Peter Munya said.
Mr Munya said in the Capacity Assessment and Rationalisation of the Public Service Programme (Carps), which was a joint audit by the Devolution ministry and the Council of Governors, it had been agreed that counties would not lay-off excess workers.
RETRAINING
The Meru governor said instead of sending them home, counties were considering other options including retraining and redeployment.
At the centre of the debate is the employment craze by county governments despite inheriting a bloated work force from the councils.
Devolution experts say the problem is as a result of gaps in the law and a lack of political goodwill to streamline the public service system.
Dr Mutakha Kangu, a former commissioner of the defunct Constitution of Kenya Review Commission, further attributed the challenges to failure by the national government to manage the transition process after the 2013 polls.
“No laws setting precedence on national norms and standards have been formed to rationalize workers between the two levels of government. These laws will in turn help set salary standards across the board. We need to create an environment where people find it comfortable to work in counties,” he told the Nation in an interview.
To address harmonization, COG finance committee chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said the new formula of funds allocation to counties should be based on population and poverty levels to ensure equitable allocation.
