Over 60,000 Civil Servants To Lose Jobs in Mix-up

Over 60,000 government employees, seconded to counties, may lose their jobs if confusion in county governments is not resolved.

According to Parliamentary Committee on Administration and National Security Chairperson Asman Kamama, the confusion occurred after the counties took over staff who had been working in institutions previously run by the central government before devolution was adopted.

Kamama said that county governments have further added to the confusion by employing more staff to the counties, thus causing redundancy in the execution of roles.

The Tiaty MP however assured the employees, seconded to counties by the central government, of a soft landing in case of retrenchment.

ATTRACTIVE RETIREMENT, RETRENCHMENT PACKAGE

He said the government would organise proper compensation through attractive retirement and retrenchment benefits for employees if they lose their jobs.

On her part, the Parliamentary Service Commission chairperson Prof Margaret Kobia revealed that most county governments are still hiring additional staff, despite a directive barring them from doing so.

Kobia, however, expressed optimism that a solution will be found to deal with the burgeoning number of employees in the counties, saying consultations are ongoing to resolve the situation.

She further lamented that counties are still struggling to maintain the 70/30 rule on ethnic balance, attributing the challenge to applicants who do not wish to apply for jobs in “foreign” counties.