City Hall to Confirm Staff in Acting Portfolios – CS Analo 

• Handle Nairobi residents with due diligence in the course of your duties, County Secretary tells City Inspectorate officers.
• There are several of county employees involved in fraud, desertion of duty and drunkenness by some City Inspectorate officers while on duty.

Nairobi City County Government has set the ball rolling to confirm all qualified employees serving in acting capacities to those positions.

The County Secretary and Head of Public Service, Patrick Analo attributed cases of officers being deployed in acting portfolios for long durations to poor human resource management practice in the county, which he said was a historical phenomenon.

“This administration together with the County Public Service Board (CPSB), has put in place measures to ensure qualified officers serving in acting portfolios are confirmed”, the head of public service told the County Assembly Labour Committee.

The County Executive Committee be Member for Burroughs, Administration and Public Service Management, Mr Patrick Mbogo told the Committee that alignment of a new establishment had been finalized awaiting the cabinet approval for implementation after Governor Johnson Sakaja moved some functions to different sectors.

However, Mr Analo cautioned the county employees to serve Nairobians diligently and avoid incidents of harassment that had become rampant, citing biting economic challenges.

“We are living in a very challenging moment where the economy is not performing well. Stress levels are very high and so it becomes highly sensitive while handling some of the issues we deal with on day to day basis”, he said.

Mr Analo noted that having senior officers in acting capacities was counterproductive by impacting performance, overall output and efficiency due to poor morale.

“When you have senior officers in acting capacities, it demoralises them and also denies them the confidence in performing certain duties”, the County Secretary explained.

The Labour Committee Chaired by Dandora One Ward MCA, Allan  Gathuku is following up on outstanding cases of employees in acting portfolios, some for long periods running into years.

“We will address this issue of having workers in acting portfolios so that we no longer have officers who are demoralised”, the CS asserted before the Committee.

Further, he implored the Committee to make it known to the County employees that they were under obligation to consider interests of Nairobi residents first, as their customers.

“We are requesting you as a Committee that while you champion for the welfare of the County staff, kindly ask the same employees to put interests of the customers at the centre”, the County Secretary submitted.

During the Committee proceedings, the Labour Committee heard of cases where several employees were involved in cases of fraud, desertion of duty and drunkenness by some City Inspectorate officers while on duty.

The County Secretary promised to forward to the Committee a report of the human resource management advisory committee in which some of the staff cases being dealt with were very embarrassing to the county administration.

“We have cases of many people out there who have been corned of money by our officers. We also have some who were involved in forgery”, Mr Analo told the Committee.

He noted that the Office of the County Secretary was mandated to coordinate the public service in Nairobi City County, which currently stood at 15, 000 employees.

“Quite often, I receive in my office letters from the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission, I look at some and I am left wondering the kind of “jobs” the named officers involve themselves in”, the Committee heard.

He explained that the Office of the County Secretary was the link between the County Assembly and the County Executive and it was responsible for implementation of resolutions of the County Executive.

The Executive comprises the Governor, Deputy Governor, County Executive Committee Members,  Chief Officers, Directors and Officers of the county government.

Next year, the county executive plans to organize a staff open day where the House Labour Committee would also be invited to share with the employees what was expected of them while providing services to Nairobians.

“We already have a human resource management advisory committee in place. The committee is mandated to handle all staff matters before any severe decisions are taken”, the County Secretary announced.

Last week, the Chief Officer, Security and Compliance, Mr Tony Kimani and two senior City Inspectorate officers who were on suspension were recalled pending further disciplinary measures.

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