Revealed! The Super-paid State Employees On Government’s Payroll. Even as calls for the trimming of wages and staff to reduce the pressure on the government wage bill gather momentum, a group of political appointees continues to sit quietly in office as they draw huge salaries from government coffers. The many advisers, consultants and other state officials recruited by the government on ‘special terms’ in the past one year are putting to question President Uhuru Kenyatta’s austerity measures to tame the unsustainable wage bill of almost Ksh500 billion. The Office of the President and the Deputy President’s carry the biggest load of political appointees, brokers and financiers who have found their way into the government payroll, The Daily Nation reports. Among advisors in the Office of the President are Ms Nancy Gitau, former Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny, and former Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohammed among others. Those in the Deputy President’s office include: Ms Maryanne Keitany, Energy Secretary Davis Chirchir, Mr Reuben Maiyo, Ms Patita Tingoi, Dr Chesang’ (in charge of policy), Lang’ata parliamentary loser Nixon Korir and former MP Anania Mwaboza. Prof Margret Kobia, Chair PSC But the chairperson of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Prof Margaret Kobia, defended the hiring of the new officials, many of whom were party activists saying they bring in special skills to the workforce. According to the Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) secretary Stephen Mutoro these super-paid public servants only serve to kill the morale in the civil service by duplicating duties and earning huge salaries. “The super-paid civil servants are basically in their own world – they are paid so highly for doing so little to the extent that they adversely kill the morale of the mainstream public servants who in return do everything in their ability to sabotage such newcomers instead of serving the public,” said Mr Mutoro. Former Ethics Permanent Secretary John Githongo dismissed the assertion that the advisers are imparting specialist skills. “Compared to regular civil servants,” Mr Githongo said, “hiring consultants allows you to by-pass the usual employment processes so they are tailor-made for certain people because of a variety of considerations: their specialised skill, experience, nepotism, corruption.”
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:47:13 +0000
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