•Governor Sonko launched the Sh11 million biometric registration system aimed at weeding out ghost workers at City Hall.
• Despite the exercise being concluded three months ago, the report has not yet be made public.
Karen MCA David Mberia has queried the motive by the county government to delay the release of the staff biometric registration report.
Despite the exercise being concluded three months ago, the report is not yet be made public, Mberia said.
Mberia has asked the status of the tendering, purchase of equipment and the use of the biometric registration. Mberia told the Star it was abnormal nothing has been said about the report since June.
“Why is the executive reluctant in releasing this report yet it is a report like any other. It seems there is something wrong with it or there is information they don’t want the public to know about,” he said.
“How comes a report affecting less than 13,000 people is being treated as a top secretive document. We need the report released,” Mberia said.
He sought a statement from the Chairman of Labour and Social Welfare which should include the legality of tendering in acquiring the biometric registration equipment and the contract sum awarded.
He also said the statement should highlight the exact number of staff employed and already registered in the system, including those who have reached retirement age, and the ghost workers identified from the data collected if any.
He also said the statement should state when the report should be expected.
On May 22, Governor Mike Sonko launched the Sh11 million biometric registration system to sieve out ghost workers.
The administration previously reported that at least 3,000 people impersonated county officers.
“This exercise will help us reduce the number (of ghost workers) and we’ll only remain with the genuine and identified staff. We have been losing millions to these ghost workers that have somehow managed to infiltrate all government sectors. But once we identify them we will be presenting them to the DCI and the DPP to face the law,” Sonko added.
It is suspected that the county is withholding the report because its implementation might shake political associations, with a particular community most affected.
“The report shows that a particular community has 70 per cent of county staff, most of them above 55 and still in City Hall’s payroll,” an officer said.
Nairobi has a monthly payroll of more than Sh1.1 billion, and has the third biggest workforce after the national government and the police service.
The biodata was supposed to capture 12,489 genuine employees.
Last year in October, it was disclosed that 253 employees had retired and the county urgently needed to fill the positions, prompting County Public Service Board's decision to advertise the vacancies.
Former City Hall director of inspectorate Peter Mbaya said the biggest problem facing the department is aged officers.
"The last time the county government employed city askaris was in 1988. The majority of the city askaris are aged, hence they cannot operate effectively," he said.