All eyes on Nakuru governor in staff hiring scam
County Secretary Joseph Motari appears before the Finance Committee at the County Assembly of Nakuru on May 6, 2016 to answer to questions of irregular exchange of public with private land leading to loss of millions in revenue. The assembly has recommended his sacking. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The House committee concluded that there existed an organised staff recruitment syndicate which was controlled by two senior officers.
- The committee chaired by Ndundori MCA Steve Kihara reported that more than 200 workers were sneaked into the county’s payroll.
- The county’s payroll came under scrutiny following a discovery that the government had recruited some 116 ward administrators against an approval of 55.
A report adopted by the Nakuru assembly last Wednesday recommending the sacking of two senior county officials has put the governor at crossroads.
The assembly’s report by an ad hoc committee, appointed to look into the alleged illegal hiring of county staff, called for the immediate sacking of county secretary Joseph Motari and public service management chief officer Philip Sigei. This was over a staff hiring scandal that saw the county incur a budget deficit of Sh261 million.
The two were among four senior county officials named as chief architects who colluded in the scandal.
The House committee concluded that there existed an organised staff recruitment syndicate which was controlled by two senior officers.
The verdict was a big blow to the Governor Kinuthia Mbugua’s administration currently on the spot over a huge wage bill and now it remains to be seen whether he will implement the sack as recommended given that the two officers are the governor’s confidants.
Following a three months’ inquiry, the committee chaired by Ndundori MCA Steve Kihara reported that more than 200 workers were sneaked into the county’s payroll and have been earning millions of shillings without the assembly’s approval as required by the law, over the last two years.
EXCESS WARD ADMINISTRATORS
The beneficiaries of the scam, said the team, included 33 ward administrators, 11 deputy sub-county administrators, 53 senior clerical officers, 35 clerical officers, 36 officers in the lands department and 12 others including drivers and gardeners who also face a sack.
Revelations were made of how the bulk of the excess ward administrators were deployed to perform non-core functions such as clerical duties and cess collection.
“To say the least, the committee established that they were underutilised, wrongly deployed and with no meaningful contribution in terms of skills to the county,” the report states.
The county’s payroll came under scrutiny following a discovery that the government had recruited some 116 ward administrators against an approval of 55. The House also recommended that all the illegally recruited, excess staff be sacked causing anxiety.
As the 2017 elections draw near, political analysts say depending on how he handles the matter, this might as well be used by the governor’s opponents to depict his poor leadership come the campaign period.
The Nation learnt that Mr Motari reported to work as usual last Thursday and Friday.
He was holed in several meetings at the county government offices for most of Thursday, a day after the assembly adopted the report, including a meeting with county chief officers.
Contacted on Thursday evening, Mr Motari confirmed that he was still in office and that he would await a directive from his boss, Mr Mbugua.
“Ask my employer,” he said. “If my boss tells me to leave office, I will do so and I will not challenge it in court.”
He declined to comment about the assembly’s verdict.
Efforts to reach the governor for a comment were unsuccessful as phone calls and text messages sent to him went unanswered.
