400 State officials back to work after lifestyle audit test

Government spokesman Eric Kiraithe. The circumstances of Ms Otieno's death distinctly point to a murder, he says. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • But he did not state how many failed the test or had been referred to another level.
  • Court documents had shown that by June 11, 10 days after President Kenyatta’s order, 458 officers had submitted themselves to the process.
  • Of the workers put through the lifestyle audit, Mr Kinyua said, 70 percent had proved to be clean.

After two months of gruelling vetting, 400 heads of procurement and accounting departments in government have been allowed back to work.

Government Spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the next cohort of officers to be vetted have been identified, and will soon be informed of the start of their vetting.

But he did not state how many failed the test or had been referred to another level, but court documents had shown that by June 11, 10 days after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s order, 458 officers had submitted themselves to the process.

It was not immediately clear whether the 58 had failed the test.

Attempts to get Mr Kiraithe to clarify the issue proved futile as calls and texts to his number and that of Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua went unanswered.

FAIR ACTION

“Those who will not have been cleared to return to office will be processed in line with the existing law, human resource guidelines, and within the tenets of the Fair Administrative Action Act,” Mr Kiraithe said in a press statement on Monday.

The statement about officers who have been allowed back to office comes just three days after Mr Kinyua revealed that nearly a third (30 percent) of those vetted had failed to account for their wealth.

Of the workers put through the lifestyle audit, Mr Kinyua said on Friday last week, 70 percent had proved to be clean.

“We are finding that many of the civil servants are good people who can account for everything they own and how they came to own it,” Mr Kinyua said at the Supreme Court building during the assumption of office of Stephen Kirogo as the chairman of the Public Service Commission.

Sources told the Nation that those officers with queries on their wealth were grilled by the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji and recorded testimonies.

GRILLING

The grilling was coordinated from the Office of the President, and the National Intelligence Service who provided most of the background information that was then assessed based on what the officers declared in provided wealth forms.

The order to vet the officers was made by President Kenyatta, and acted upon by Mr Kinyua, who asked all officers in that rank to step aside.

The vetting, President Kenyatta had said, was expected to end before the start of the 2018/2019 financial year on July 1.

“Those who shall fail the vetting will stand suspended. You will hear of other tougher actions in the days to come,” the Head of State had announced.

In the statement, Mr Kiraithe defended the government against accusations that the process had taken long – almost two months after its planned deadline.

“Due to the extenuating circumstances, the timelines for the vetting process went beyond the anticipated period,” Mr Kiraithe said.