Siaya County Government sacks 380 fake employees

Chief Executive Officer of the Siaya County Public Service Board, Wilfred Ouma Nyagudi in his office on September 12, 2025. /KNA

Siaya County Government has sacked more than 380 workers who reported to the health department early this year using forged employment documents.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Siaya County Public Service Board, Wilfred Ouma Nyagudi, the board was forced to carry out an authentication exercise targeting over 500 people following hue and cry that those engaged this year had gone without salary for close to eight months.

Addressing the media in his office on Friday, Nyagudi said that the board only employed 120 workers who were issued with authentic letters after a rigorous interview exercise and was surprised that while reporting, the number suddenly ballooned.

He said that a criminal syndicate appeared to have taken advantage of the situation and forged letters which were issued to unsuspecting youth.

“When the matter was brought to our attention, we engaged the services of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and forwarded all the documents,” he said, adding that results of the investigation found some letters to be forgeries.

Nyagudi said that the board used several parameters, including the sequence of reference numbers, to determine the documents’ validity.

After several hours of waiting, top officials led by County Secretary Joseph Ogutu, Nyagudi and the County Executive Committee Member for Health, Dr Martin K’Onyango, emerged to address the staff.

Instead of delivering the good news they expected, the team unleashed a bombshell that only 128 out of the 510 were valid employees of the Siaya County Government.

“There are incidents where one has a deployment letter dated December 2024 while his offer of employment reads January 2025, which should not be the case,” Nyagudi said.

Most of the purported workers were left dumbfounded, while others collapsed at the Siaya County headquarters on learning that they had been duped into believing they were employees of the county government.

As the reality dawned on those affected, some fainted while others collapsed on their knees, with tears rolling down their cheeks, mourning about how they would recoup the money they allegedly used to secure the employment.

Nyagudi went ahead to read out the 128 names, after which the County Secretary Ogutu told those who did not hear their names that they were not recognised by the county government as employees.

The announcement saw those left out protesting loudly, as others burst into wailing, claiming they had spent a fortune to acquire the appointment letters.

Their cries, however, landed on deaf ears, with the County Secretary maintaining that the county government had nothing to do with anyone who was not on the final list.

Ogutu told those claiming to have parted with money to secure employment to take up the matter with those they gave the bribes to, or with the relevant government authority.

Some of the affected workers claimed that they parted with as much as Sh350,000 to secure employment letters and wondered how they would recover the amount spent.

"If you had given out money to anyone to get a job, which is wrong in the first place, you should go and find that person," Ogutu said.

The victims, through their spokespersons, Emily Nabwala Anyango and Felix Omondi, who are clinical officers, said they had all along rendered their services diligently, expecting their employer to remit their salaries, however late.

Anyango said that they were expecting to be confirmed in their positions after the six-month probation period stipulated in the appointment letter, not dismissed.

Her colleague, Omondi, who has been serving at Ligega Health Centre, said they had been surviving on loans from individuals with the hope that once paid by the county government, they would settle the debts.

“It has been hard for the past eight months,” he lamented, adding: "How are we going to explain to our families or those that lent us money that has been keeping us going?”