TOM MALITI: Let Nairobi hire its workers for prosperity sake
The Nairobi County Public Service Board has begun interviews of candidates shortlisted to be sub-county administrators and ward administrators.
These are the people who will implement the government’s programmes at the grassroots level.
It was interesting to see the qualifications of the individuals who had applied. Most had a second bachelors degree. One or two even had a PhD.
These latest interviews will not amuse the Transitional Authority that is charged with enabling a smooth transition from the previous local government system to the present devolved system of government.
It has said that county governments should not be recruiting their own staff because they already have personnel seconded to them from the national government.
The authority is missing the point. Under the previous system, elected officials such as the mayor and councillors had no say in who was the council’s staff.
The Ministry of Local Government just seconded officers to the council.
This meant that if the councillors had a policy they wanted to implement being the platform on which they were elected, the town clerk could ignore it.
The town clerk could and did often tell the them that the Ministry had not approved it.
Staff issues
Now Nairobi has its own county public service board responsible for staff issues in the county, including recruitment of personnel.
For the first time in decades, Nairobi’s elected officials will have staff directly in the service of the city.
The Transitional Authority should let Nairobi governments be. This way, when Governor Evans Kidero comes to seek our vote at the next election, he cannot argue he did not fulfil his promises because a bureaucracy.
tom. maliti@live.com