Laikipia eyes Sh1bn savings after laying off employees

Laikipia County hopes to cut its payroll costs by Sh1.143 billion after axing 172 employees.

Governor Ndiritu Muriithi said the planned retrenchment is meant to reduce wages and increase resources for development.

"We will use the funds for rehabilitating our roads, equipping our hospitals and rolling out other key development projects," Mr Muriithi said.

His administration, he noted has adopted technology to make operations efficient, adding that this has rendered some roles redundant.

"We no longer need dozens of messengers since files are electronic. The nature of filing and clerical work has changed from manual to electronic," he said during a press conference at his Nanyuki office on Thursday,.

"All staff must have computer skills so we no longer have typing pools, and mobile phones have greatly reduced reliance on land lines," Mr Muriithi added.

Mr Muriithi said the staff audit process conducted by the County Public Service Board (CPSB) between June 24 and August 17 last year was done “professionally” to facilitate effective and efficient service delivery to citizens.

On Wednesday, acting county secretary Karanja Njora said the administration's top leadership risked being jailed for failing to comply with the Public Finance Management Act 2012 which stipulates a wage bill ceiling of 35 percent.

"To this effect, the board has identified 176 employees whose positions will no longer be tenable because they are not gainfully engaged," Mr Njora said.

"The process of identifying these employees was conducted in accordance with the law, the principle of fairness and in a humane manner. The identified staff will be trained, counselled and given a good send-off package to facilitate them begin a new life," he added.

The county spends Sh190.8 million monthly to pay its staff.

The staff audit was conducted at Nanyuki, Rumuruti, Nyahururu and Doldol towns.

"The audit revealed that some employees are not gainfully engaged, meaning that they earn a salary but there is no way of justifying what they do," Mr Njora said.

CPSB chairperson Mumbi Mwago said that during the audit, three medical doctors were out of the country for training and, hence, could not be included on the list of ghost workers.