Siaya governor Cornel Rasanga has blamed the county public service board for the bloated work force that has resulted into a huge wage bill.
Rasanga said that the board that left the office last week presided over the unfair recruitment of staff, making the county government spend Sh351 million on recurrent expenditure for the last six years.
Speaking to the press in his office Friday, the governor said that the board, under the chairmanship of former Gem Member of Parliament, Joe Donde illegally recruited 57 personnel.
“I called for a meeting of the 81 personnel who were recruited but only 50 turned up for a scrutiny process,” said Rasanga, adding that members of the board, including its chief executive officer, had a hand in the illegal recruitment.
Flanked by the acting County Secretary, Joseph Ogutu, the governor accused the outgoing board of nepotism during its term alleging that many promotions and recruitment were based on nepotism.
“The previous board lacked professionalism in the discharge of its duties, hence the glaring irregularities that bedeviled the public service,” he said, adding that he had now opted to appoint professionals to sit in the new board.
This week, the governor forwarded a list of six, among them four women to the Siaya county assembly for vetting and subsequent approval as members of the public service board.
However, the appointments caused uproar, with a section of the residents complaining that two women in the list were not among the initial applicants, neither were they shortlisted or interviewed for the slots.
The residents are further lamenting that the list does not meet the constitutional threshold that demands for fair representation of the various regions, youth and persons living with disability among other considerations.
By Philip Onyango
