•Mass enumeration was carried out across the country in August last year
•Some of who worked during the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census are yet to be paid
Treasury CS Ukur Yatani and government statistics boss Zachary Mwangi have been summoned by senators to explain delayed payment of census staff.
Some people who worked during the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census are yet to be paid more than six months after the exercise. The census was carried out last August.
The two officers will appear before the Senate committee on Finance and Budget chaired by Mandera Senator Mahamud Mohamed, when the House resumes from a two-week break necessitated by the coronavirus epidemic.
Mwangi is the managing director of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics which is under Yatani’s Treasury and Planning Ministry.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, who petitioned the House to enquire into the matter, accused the ministry and KNBS of skewed and selective payment of census staff.
“It is so sad that whenever young people of this country work for the government be it census, Huduma Namba, elections or any time they are engaged on a casual basis, they have to make a lot of noise to be paid,” he said.
Cherargei wants Yatani and Mwangi to shed light on the reasons for the delay in the payment of casual staff in some areas who worked during the enumeration.
The duo should explain the criteria used in making payments since some regions have been paid and others not.
“The committee should provide a comprehensive report from the ministry, detailing the status of the payments across the country, with the payment status of all the staff and stating when those who are yet to be paid should expect payment,” he said in the petition.
He blamed the government for always punishing the youth it enters into contracts with to undertake various tasks.
Most of the youths, he said, are jobless and rely on such opportunities when they come by to make ends meet.
“Young people in this country are unemployed. I am aware of a young person from Aldai subcounty in Kapkenduywa who was waiting for this money to be able to pay his fees in Laikipia University,” he said.
Edited by Henry Makori