Senior officers in Vihiga County are on the spot over a suspicious hiring spree in the county government and conversion of contracted staff to permanent and pensionable terms.
The development comes after a Senate committee commenced investigations into ongoing employment splurge by the Vihiga County Public Service Board (CPSB) with operations of the Board under the microscope.
The investigation by the Senate committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations comes at a time when reports by the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu and Controller of Budget Dr Margaret Nyakang’o indicate that the devolved unit has surpassed the 35 percent ceiling in recurrent expenditure on wage bill.
Also under the eye of the committee chaired by Wajir Senator Mohamed Abass are allegations of nepotism by the Board, senior county officials as well as recruitment and promotion of staff within the executive.
Senator Godfrey Osotsi, while seeking a statement in the Senate on Wednesday, wants the Board to explain the reasons for the continued over employment despite the concerns raised by the office of Ms Gathungu and Dr Nyakang’o through various reports.
As the team that is led by Ambassador Franklin Esipila faces investigations, Senator Osotsi told the House that the actions of the Board are in violation of provisions of the Public Finance Management Act and the County Government Regulation 2015 that cap wages and salaries at 35 percent of the total county revenue.
The ODM deputy party leader noted that the report of the Auditor-General for Vihiga County Executive for the financial years ending June 30, 2021 and 2022 raised concerns about the over expenditure on wages and salaries.
“These wages and salaries were processed through both the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD) system and manual payroll system,” said Senator Osotsi.
He observed that Ms Gathungu identified key issues that have led to surpassing of the ceiling, among them delays in assigning the unified payroll numbers to staff.
Other issues identified as having caused a skyrocketed payroll are recruitment of designations that do not align with the IPPD system and employment of staff on short term contracts of less than six months.
“There are also allegations of nepotism in the officers serving in various offices in the county executive which is perpetuated by the Board,” he said.
Senator Osotsi now wants the committee to list all the individuals who were employed on contract and permanent and pensionable terms from the financial year 2021 to-date, indicating their position, department, county and sub county of residence.
The statement, he went on, should provide a breakdown of individuals who have been converted from contracted terms to permanent and pensionable status, stating whether the due process was followed in each case.
The committee, he added, should provide the needs assessment reports, job advertisements, interview analysis sheet, employment agreement and all related documents for the officers employed from the financial year 2021 to-date.
The first term lawmaker further wants the statement to include copies of the resolution by the county assembly halting various employment activities due to the high wage bill as well as recommendations by the Auditor General and CoB.
