Nairobi County can now recruit staff
What you need to know:
- City Hall has not been able to recruit staff for more than a year because of lack of enough numbers in the board.
- A planned recruitment of 800 new county constables, 498 early childhood development education teachers and 1,200 firefighters has stalled three times.
- A similar attempt to recruit medical staff even after shortlisting of 1,159 candidates for interviews was halted because of the lack of quorum.
Nairobi County Government can now recruit county staff after close to two years of inactivity due to lack of a quorum in the county’s public service board.
This is after the Nairobi County Assembly last week on Thursday approved a new member to the board, in the process properly reconstituting the board in what will now offer relief to Governor Mike Sonko's administration.
City Hall has not been able to recruit staff for more than a year because of lack of enough numbers in the board.
A planned recruitment of 800 new county constables, 498 early childhood development education teachers and 1,200 firefighters has stalled three times.
A similar attempt to recruit medical staff even after shortlisting of 1,159 candidates for interviews was halted because of the lack of quorum.
However, with the approval of Governor Mike Sonko’s nominee Jack Owino by MCAs as a new member of the board after successful vetting by the assembly’s Labour and Social Welfare Committee, the board has attained the required number of five members to carry out its functions.
The board, which is made up of seven members who include the chairman, the chief executive officer and five other members, has only been having four members, denying it the power to recruit staff for the county government.
For the board to transact its mandate, it needs a quorum of five members. However, the board had only four members -- acting chairman Thomas Kasoa, Aisha Wanjiku, Sharon Mirella and Consolata Muthoni.
With the entry of Mr Owino, the board can now dispense its functions -- mainly recruitment of county staff.
Minority Leader Michael Ogada said the attainment of a quorum in the board will cure delays in recruitment and promotions.
Mugomoini MCA Jared Akama said the new development means that the board can now dispense its mandate with the county government now set to recruit constables and ECDE teachers.
Kware MCA Rose Ogonda said the board has previously done three advertisements to recruit staff but this was not possible for lack of a quorum in the board.
The board, nonetheless, is yet to get a new chief executive officer after Governor Sonko’s nominee for the position, Mr Phillip Kaingu, skipped vetting early this month. The governor is also yet to replace former chairman Abdihakim Mohamed.
