Lands Registry ripe for radical surgery

Needless to say, when the first payroll was run, there was a near riot as some workers started inciting their colleagues to strike against the “sale of the parastatal” to foreigners who were out to get rid of Kenyan workers.

Of course that was not true. But these workers very nearly succeeded in getting management to stop the entire outsourcing exercise due to the tension and workers who were ready to down their tools until the old order was restored.

It took the sheer guts of the CEO at the time to put his foot down and insist that the outsourcing was going to go ahead, which action enabled us to smoke out the ghost workers as our cashiers would only pay the names on the list against which a national identity card had to be produced.

The CEO was smart enough to realise that the rabble-rousers were made up of the “ghost workers” who were determined to ensure that the new changes in the method of paying out wages must not be allowed to work.

Don’t join

The Lands Registry mafia may actually constitute a minority in the total employee count at that department.

However, they will do anything to ensure that any changes being introduced by their fearless Permanent Secretary, including computerisation of land records, will not succeed.

Even as a minority, the magnitude of their desire to maintain the status quo should never be underestimated.

As a parting shot, a man goes to the doctor and says “Doctor, I’ve become a compulsive thief.”

The doctor prescribes him a course of tablets and says, “If you’re not cured in a couple of weeks would you get me a widescreen television?” If you can’t beat them, don’t join them.

carol.musyoka@bungani.com