Kakamega will next month conduct a headcount of workers and verify their academic qualifications to get rid of ghost workers, Governor Wycliffe Oparanya has said.
“Thereafter, a major reorganisation of the county government will follow to ensure efficient service delivery to the people,” Oparanya said on Wednesday.
He spoke when he led the county in Jamhuri Day celebrations at Bhukungu Stadium.
On December 2, Oparanya put on notice employees with fake academic papers.
The governor said workers, including executive committee members, found to have presented fake academic papers for employment will be sacked, prosecuted and salaries earned recovered from them.
A senior officer said to have presented dubious academic papers for employment resigned two weeks ago after his treachery was discovered.
On Thursday, staff told the Star that they had been asked to present their original academic papers to the department of public service and administration for scrutiny.
“Anxiety is high because it’s true that there are many people here with fake papers. We don’t know when the axe will land," a senior officer said.
During the Jamhuri Day celebrations, Oparanya said he has established a service Delivery Unit in his office to coordinate and monitor services.
A committee to spearhead the upgrading of Kakamega town in preparation for a city status has also been formed.
The committee is headed by Professor Laban Ayiro and has nine members. Ayiro is a former vice chancellor of Moi University.
“We are committed to have Kakamega promoted to city status by 2022,” Oparanya said.
He said the World Bank has agreed to support urban development of Kakamega and Mumias towns at a cost of Sh400 million.
In October, Oparanya asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to consider having Kakamega upgraded to a city. The town served as the headquarters of the defunct Western province.
The town was gazetted as the provincial headquarters in 1920. The county will celebrate the town’s centenary in 2020. Currently, only Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu have city status.
The Cities and Urban Areas Act was amended to half the population of cities from 500,000 to 250,000. Kakamega town's population is currently estimated at 150,000.
The county government plans to expand the municipality to include Khayega, Eshisiru and Lubao townships on the outskirts to raise the numbers required for city status.
The planned expansion will increase the size of Kakamega municipality from the current 49 square kilometers to 123 square kilometers.
Kakamega municipality was established in the 1970s with infrastructure to sustain about 500 households, but the population has since outstripped the infrastructure necessitating expansion for better services.