City Hall workers not taking leave? Majority leader calls for mandatory time off
City Hall, the Nairobi City County headquarters. County Assembly Majority Leader Peter Imwatok moved a motion that all employees who have not taken annual leave for the past four to six years should be given notice and sent on compulsory leave.
What you need to know:
- The motion also seeks to stipulate that all county government employees who have attained the age of 60 should retire and not seek an extension of their terms.
The Nairobi City County government spent a total of Sh18 billion on paying employees in the last financial year, with almost 6,000 of them refusing to go on annual leave to avoid losing perks and allowances.
Nairobi City County Assembly Majority Leader Peter Imwatok told a plenary session on Thursday that the county government is unable to meet its development obligations due to the huge wage bill, which threatens to cripple the county government.
In response to the soaring wage bill, Mr Imwatok moved a motion that all employees who have not taken annual leave for the past four to six years should be given notice and sent on compulsory leave to tame the soaring wage bill.
The MCAs were told that a section of senior officials in both the County Executive and the County Assembly have not taken leave for the past six years and are not seeking compensation for the accumulated leave days. Some of them are also ghost workers, according to county government officials.
“We receive funds from the Controller of Budget every week but the funds are not adequate to run the county government. Every week, the Finance CEC is always borrowing money to pay salaries and allowances for officials. This must come to an end. We are nurturing corruption because some of these officials are afraid of missing out on deals while they are on leave. We cannot work like that,” Mr Imwatok said.
The motion also seeks to stipulate that all county government employees who have attained the age of 60 should retire and not seek an extension of their terms.
“Those who have reached the age of 60 should just leave office and leave it for someone else. We have the young people to learn from you and move forward. The law requires that once you reach the age of 60, you are sent on terminal leave in readiness to hand over. We are not going to allow the violation of the law to please anyone,” Mr Imwatok added.
Among the worst hit is the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, where a senior official has reached the age of 60 and is reportedly seeking an extension.
The revelation comes as the county government struggles to meet its obligations due to a cash crunch that has persisted for several months.
In the last financial year, of the Sh31 billion withdrawn from the County Revenue Fund (CRF), only Sh2.7 billion was spent on development, according to the Controller of Budget.
The rest of the funds were spent on employee compensation (Sh18 billion) and operations and maintenance (Sh9.93 billion). A large proportion of the employee compensation was spent at the County Executive (Sh17 billion) while Sh850 million was spent at the County Assembly.
Despite the ballooning wage bill, the county has been on a recruitment and promotion spree, resulting in a Sh6.97 billion increase in the wage bill from the Sh12 billion recorded in the previous financial year.
“The increment in employee compensation is attributed to a pension arrears payment of Sh1.69 billion, existing staff promotions and recruitment of more staff (medical personnel, the Green Army and enforcement staff),” the Controller of Budget’s report said.
The Controller of Budget also raised a red flag over the county government’s expenditure of Sh861 million on domestic travel and Sh328 on foreign travel, which was too high given the county government's financial position.
To stay afloat, the county government has borrowed from a local bank to pay employees and run its activities, according to senior officials.
