Wage bill queries as Kericho hires 30 PAs

Kericho county assembly is set to hire 30 personal assistants (PAs) for local ward representatives in a move that has regenerated debate on use of public funds by the devolved governments and its impact on the ballooning public wage bill.

Kericho County Assembly service board has advertised 30 PA jobs indicating that they will help the county’s 47 MCAs handle phone calls, prepare itineraries and hold brief for the MCAs in special cases.

An image of the advertisement Tuesday made rounds on social media, with most people expressing shock at the decision.

“The advertisement is intended to ensure that hiring of PAs is by merit and to ensure affairs of the county are run in a professional manner,” said Dominic Rono, the Speaker of the County Assembly.

The Controller of Budget’s report shows that Kericho County spent Sh2.14 billion on personal emoluments of its staff or 60 per cent of the Sh3.57 billion total recurrent expenditure budget in the year to June.

Those who have been invited to apply for the jobs are candidates with a diploma in Business Administration, excellent computer skills and attained at least C- in the KCSE exam.

Mr Rono noted that aside from the law allowing the hiring of PAs for government officials, including MCAs, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has provided funds for the same.

“MCAs are entitled to have ward offices and the PAs will play a major role in running the affairs of the office in the absence of the ward representative,” he said.

READ: Budget office names MCAs with the highest sitting allowances

Former chairman of the now defunct Transition Authority (TA) Kinuthia Wamwangi, however, said the move is in line with best practice as it would avoid hand-picking of friends or relatives for county jobs.

“The advertisement shows that this is a structured employment process in which only competent people will be hired,” he said.

The PAs remuneration will be determined and handled by the County Service Board, meaning that there will be no room for exploitation or mistreatment by the MCAs they work for.

In 2014, a year after the onset of devolution, MCAs in the 47 counties went into a frenzy of hiring PAs at a cost of Sh875 million monthly, translating to Sh10.5 billion annually.

The Transition Authority found that each MCA had six assistants hired irregularly, including ward manager, personal secretary, driver, personal assistant, guard and messenger.

It therefore recommended that MCAs and County Assembly chiefs, who authorised the hirings, be surcharged for the money paid out to the assistants.

“This is when we raised alarm and it was decided that an MCA can only have a maximum of three PAs to run their affairs,” said Mr Wamwangi.