The census jobs hiring process was marred with impunity, nepotism, bribery and a high level of irresponsibility on the part of county statistics officers who oversaw the process.
It is reported that some people started pursuing the jobs long before they were advertised. They booked the vacancies with the chiefs and assistant chiefs, who reportedly hired Huduma Namba clerks. They decided who to work in the census when they appointed the clerks. There was no merit in the hiring. Applying for the jobs was just but a formality and a waste of time.
This is what took place in Kisii subcounty during the recruitment of content supervisor officers. An ideal recruitment process demands a fair and verifiable selection criterion to throw out applicants and invite the most qualified candidates for an interview.
However, a high level of absurdity was manifested by the county statistics officer-in-charge of hiring in the subcounty. Instead of filtering applicants, she invited all applicants to the first interview. The huge number of applicants overcrowded small rooms where many of them stood throughout the interview.
People were made to wait for the interview from as early as 7am till noon. After answering questions, the scripts were haphazardly collected. They were not separated in terms of the locations or sub-locations. The interview was conducted on Monday and on Wednesday, the successful candidates were to attend an oral interview.
Who was to sort and mark the scripts since there is only one statistics officer in the county? This raises unanswered questions which prove that the exercise was not free and fair. It forces many to buy the idea that people were hired long before the jobs were advertised.
