Ward representatives have temporally frozen staff employment in Embu as one way of addressing the problem of delayed salaries due to lack of money.
Mbeti North MCA Peter Murithi pointed out that the move by the county assembly will affect recruitment of 80 revenue collection officers.
He said stopping further employment was done because there was no budgetary provision for a huge wage bill.
Muriithi said any new county staffers employed were likely to end up demonstrating on the streets against lack of salaries. This would embarrass Governor Martin Wambora and the county as a whole.
The MCAs dispelled the notion that they were against employment of jobless youth by the county government, saying there was no financial capability to support additional salaries.
The leaders said they would create jobs for the youth but stated that the timing of hiring more personnel was wrong since the county government was grappling with low revenue generation due to reduced trading during the coronavirus crisis.
Majority leader Michael Njeru (Kithimu) and his deputy Harrison Mwaluko (Mwea) denied claims that Embu MCAs did not want the youth to secure employment. They called for proper planning and redoubling of revenue raising measures to support the rising wage bill.
Mbeti North MCA Peter Murithi pointed out that the county assembly saved the face of Governor Wambora by halting recruitment because there was no budgetary provision for it.
Robert Ireri (Kagaari South) termed the planned recruitment as a potential calamity due to the scarcity of funds in the county. His Ruguru-Ngandori counterpart Muturi Mwombo suggested that the county ought to first clear the salary arrears for existing employees and pending bills for suppliers before thinking of recruiting.
Phillip Nzangi (Makima) said that although it was the right of the people to have gainful employment, it was more beneficial to have a functional economy in the county.
Other MCAs, who spoke during a plenary, said Embu needed good roads, hospitals, adequate money for bursaries and more medical personnel.
They accused the executive arm of playing populist politics by deceiving the youth that they would be employed as revenue collectors while setting a 50-year age limit for applicants.
Edited by Henry Makori
