Nairobi News

General

Kick out incompetent county workers


At least three out of every five county workers are either unqualified or too old to deliver, a shocking new report reveals.

It adds that only three out of ten workers match the requirements for their jobs.

It lays bare the rot at County Hall.

And it must be acted upon — now.

The report by auditors PriceWaterhouseCoopers was commissioned by former Town Clerk Philip Kisia.

It also states that 69 per cent of the staff do not have the skills for their jobs — and that the workforce is bloated by 3,676 employees.

“The city requires 7,716 employees. The extra numbers are not needed,” the report notes.

The Planning Department has the highest number of unqualified staff at 93 per cent. Only 18 out of the 249 employees in the department have relevant skills.

The Legal Department follows with 84 per cent while the Treasury comes third with 82 per cent of staff holding jobs they cannot do properly.

Two in every three staff in the Health Department are not qualified to treat people or to maintain public health standards.

In another worrying revelation, 76 per cent of staff in Education Department are poorly trained, meaning schools are packed with poorly trained teachers and supervisors.

The Environment Department whose key objective is to keep the county clean has only 155 of its 626 workforce matching their job requirements.

The report notes that 92 per cent of lower cadre staff are poorly educated or are not educated at all. This means they were employed because of their connections with the powers that be.

And it easily explains why Nairobians hardly get the services they pay for.

New taxes have been introduced and existing ones have been raised. It is therefore appalling that Nairobians are paying more for zero service.

We shall not be surprised that the new County government has inherited this rot from the George Aladwa regime.

We must, as a county, demand that the governor Dr Evans Kidero, must weed out this rot and hire people who are competent to deliver the services the county needs and deserves.

Anything else is unacceptable.

nneditor@ke.nationmedia.com