Anyang' Nyong'o's solutions for bloated workforce in counties

The government should consider contract employment in the public service and a golden handshake for those who wish to retire early as measures to shrink the bloated workforce and address the huge bill matter.

These were proposals by Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o during the Fourth Annual Legislative Summit for county assemblies in the lakeside city on Wednesday.

Governor Nyong'o told the summit that the bloated workforce and huge wage bill were the main causes problems in the national and county governments, where staff are on permanent and pensionable terms, yet sufficient explanations are never given.

“I have a problem with the office of the Auditor-General and that of the Controller of Budget, which say counties have bloated workforces. While that assessment is largely true, it falls short of saying why,” he said.

“They describe it very well but fall short of saying why it exists. You must explain why the bloated works force and wage bill are there."

TRANSITIONAL ISSUES

Governor Nyong'o noted that all the 47 counties struggle with the two issues, which he said they inherited from the defunct municipal councils and the national government.

He said these were transitional issues which the defunct Transitional Authority (TA) failed to identify as part of inherited liabilities and which continue to haunt counties.

Prof Nyongo further accused the National Treasury of never taking the matters seriously.

“Treasury has never paid attention to this. Monies are allocated to counties as if they handle normal services - we have an abnormal situation but the National Treasury allocates money as if the public service in counties is normal,” he said.

“We need a policy that will help us come up with solutions because lamentations will not solve the problem. Otherwise [the issues] will keep recurring and lamentations from the AG and Controller of Budget will go on. There must be a solution."

Regarding the pressure for counties to downsize, the county chief noted that such a move would require the joint efforts of counties and the national government.

Prof Nyong' also suggested that the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (Kerra) be scrapped and all funds due to it channelled to counties as most of its functions were devolved.

THE FIGURES

The Capacity Assessment and Rationalisation of the Public Service Programme (CARPS) audit report for 2015 showed that the number of public servants registered at both levels of government was 199,921.

Of this, 72,923 (36 per cent) were in the national government and 126,998 (64 per cent) in the devolved units.

Another 70,416 were from the devolved ministries, accounting for 70 per cent of the counties’ workforce, while the defunct local authorities contributed 32,237 (30 per cent).

The Inter-governmental Steering Committee recommended aggregation and implementation of optimal staffing levels by reducing county staff by 38,858.

Council of Governors Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) has complained that the bloated workforce drains counties financially, and asked the national government to intervene.

The council has proposed that counties be given Sh4 billion for the golden handshake for workers inherited from the defunct local and municipal councils.