Nakuru County Assembly suspends hiring of 10 administrators

Nakuru County Assembly has suspended the recruitment of 10 sub-county administrators by the County Public Service Board.

This follows a petition filed by Mr Simon Sangale ole Nasieku of Nakuru Accountability Forum to the assembly.

Mr Nasieku, in his petition, urged the assembly to intervene in the fraudulent declaration of vacant positions contrary to the Public Finance Management Act and county Budget.

The Assembly joint committees on Labour and Budget and Appropriations resolved that the board should immediately suspend recruitment as advertised under vacancy number 04/2022 as the process was fraudulent.

"Under the provisions of Standing Order 205, the County Assembly has resolved that the Chief Officer Public Service Training and Development acted ultra vires," said the assembly in a letter dated May 18, 2022, and signed by Ms Ann Kahunga on behalf of the Clerk.

The assembly further resolved that: "A clear scheme of service for Administrators be operationalised and qualified officers in acting capacity be considered for promotion.

"This petition was treated with urgency as it was sensitive in an election year. The Assembly wanted to stop illegal recruitment that had not been supported by an approved budget," said Timothy Kabutu who is the vice-chairperson of the Labour committee.

Mr Nasieku had written to the board on February 7 requesting to be furnished with information and minutes of the department of Public Service Training and Devolution that identified and approved the establishment of the vacancies.

The petitioner also wanted to be furnished with approved budget estimates and the status of the existing sub-county administrators.

Mr Nasieku also wanted the board to explain the fate of deputy sub-county administrators and their career progression in the light of the intended recruitment.

However, the board did not respond to his demands, prompting him to seek intervention from the assembly to nullify the proposed recruitment.

The Board chairperson appeared before the assembly committee and defended the recruitment saying it was following instructions from the relevant department which had indicated its intention to hire the 10 officers.

However, there was no written commitment from the Controller of Budget to support the recruitment.

At least 17 petitions were lined up to be resolved by the Ward Reps before the House is dissolved in June ahead of the August 9 polls.

Apart from the petitions, there are several pending Bills that the ward reps have also not passed including approving the 2022/2023 Budget.

Some of the pending Bills include the Nakuru County Land Management Bill, the Nakuru County Food and Urban Agriculture Bill, Nakuru County Assembly Members' Offices Bill, and the controversial Nakuru County Maternal Newborn and Child Health Bill.

Other pending Bills include Nakuru Community Health Bill, Nakuru County Valuation and Rating Bill, Nakuru County Housing Estate and Tenancy and Management Bill, Nakuru County Animals Disease Control Bill and the Nakuru County Public Service Bill.

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