By Dickens Wasonga.
The controversy over irregular recruitment of 13 employees at the Kisumu county council has seen the clerk who was at the center of it moved and the hiring nullified by the PS, ministry of local government.
The immediate former clerk to the county council, Mr. Zablon Chana, who was accused by a section of councilors of hiring his daughter and a brother to the council’s chairman councilor, Issac Ojuok, has been tranfered to Luanda town council, according to the Nyanza provincial local government officer, Issac Kirui.
The hiring, which was protested vehemently by the civic leaders, led by the establishment committee chairman, cllr. Mary Atieno, saw the clerk recruit Ghati Getari, his daughter and CalebOjuok, the chairman’s brother, as market attendants three, in salary scale 19, even though the duo failed to attain the required marks during the interview.
Earlier, when contacted, the clerk and the chairman did not deny that the two were indeed their relatives, but argued that as Kenyans there was nothing stopping them from being considered for the jobs, just because of being their kinsmen.
But the PLGO disagreed with the two, and said it was clear they contravened the laid down procedures by manipulating the recruitment process and altering the score sheets to favour their relatives, at the expense of the other potential and eligible applicants.
He confirmed that the clerk, who has been at the council for the last six years, was moved because of how he handled the recruitment, adding that Mr. Benson Opiyo from Busia county council has since replaced him.
The government has at the same time nullified the hiring of 35 new staff at Ahero town council after its town clerk, Mr. Richard Kimanga, allegedly ignored the ministry’s directive to the local authority to hire only nine new employees.
According the PLGO, the ministry had given the council the go ahead to recruit 9 staffs into the positions of a computer programmer, assistant physical planner, public health technician, supplies officer, social development officer, revenue officer, enforcement officer and town engineer, as earlier requested by the civic body.
”The ministry can not allow the chief officers to hire people nonprocedurally and in total disregard to the financial position of the institution. How are they going to pay the huge wage bill that will come as a result of this high number of staff?” asked the PLGO.
He said the council was in poor financial status and has not paid salaries for nine months, which translates to millions of shillings in form of arrears.
Three councilors from the council, namely Fredrick Oriwa,Thomas Anditi and John Okoth had on 4th of March this year wrote a letter to the public Service Commission, seeking to have the hiring of the 35 employees stopped on grounds that the council had not resolved to do so.
They accused the clerk of ignoring the directives of the commission and challenged him to produce minutes of the full council meeting which resolved that the said staff be hired.
”This council is riddled by outstanding debts, including statutory ones. Staff salaries have not been paid for nine months and currently we have only 60 employees. What will happen when the additional staff come in?”,asked cllr Anditi.
ENDS
i wonder if the recruitment’s were nullified, if so how come these new recruits still go to work and are on salary. Kenyans be fair to all Kenyans
Could i get a brief history and story line of Nyando pensioners scheme who are claiming areas running in millions of shillings
I applied for the job and didn’t get any because of our corrupt Kenya. can someone tell me why others have to suffer at the expense of the rest.
Council vacancies are family based jobs hence stemming out corruption in local authorities is a mere dream!!! but we expect something to be done when we fully join the county government system one weeks time (2012). THANK YOU KENYANS.
KUPATA KAZI KENYA NI KWA WALIO NA PESA, SISI MASIKINI HATUNA BAHATI.
Cortland in the coverage above you state that both paeirts in town are a joke. Unfortunately, you can’t deny that there are philosphical differences between the two paeirts. Dems generally believe in social programs for the have-nots funded by tax dollars from the haves just look at the havoc Obama has wreaked (IMO). Republicans tend to be more fiscally conservative about giving away tax dollars, or anyway, that’s the generally accepted ideology for each party.When I first got involved more than 20 years ago candidates ran on substantive issues. While party ideas were different, we basically respected that difference as well as the candidates who were friends or neighbors. Often, I voted for the candidate didn’t care if he/she was a Democrat or a Republican if I felt they were true and honest. However, since the advent of certain bloggers in town, you cannot deny the absolute viciousness of attacks aimed against a candidate from the other party. Bloggers even went so far as to attack the children of a candidate what the heck? And how do you prevent the special interests i.e. unions and their enforcers from putting considerable funds and muscle into intimidation of a candidate they oppose? For crying out loud a Democrat union enforcer actually came to my home and threatened my husband, this after that same enforcer tried to get Marty’s union steward at work to shut down his political involvement! People decry the clubs backing of council candidates, but the truth of the matter is that club members are generally such because they have an interest in their community and a desire to serve or contribute in some way. They usually believe most if not all the party ideals, but more importantly, know that they need club members to watch their backs should they stand for election that they will be attacked isn’t a possibility it’s a certainty. Cortland, how and where do we find and/or elect a stand alone candidate willing to face that nonsense alone? I’d really like to know!