Sakaja vows to prioritize City Hall workers welfare if elected Governor

Nairobi County unions have urged Senator Johnson Sakaja to prioritize workers issues if elected the next Governor of the City.

The Kenya County Government Workers Union officials Tuesday afternoon visited Sakaja to bring him up to speed on their requests and priorities among them salaries review, job security, pension and working conditions.

“Nairobi county government workers are in 2022 earning salaries that were registered in the Industrial Court in 2012. It is an injustice for staff to go for 10 years without a pay rise,” Assistant Secretary General Festus Ngari told Sakaja.

NCCG signed a collective bargaining agreement with its 12,300 employees in 2017 but it has not been implemented following a court order.

Another agreement signed by the parties in 2019 stagnated after objection from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

They also implored on Senator Sakaja to settle billions of shillings owed to pension schemes after being deducted from their salaries.

“Retirees are unable to earn a pension to cushion their life after employment simply because the county government is not remitting their deductions to Laptrust and Lapfund,” Ngare said.

Head of Rates, Stephen Mutua said revenue collection has dropped with the appointment of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) as the principal collector of revenue and the performance needed to be reviewed.

“Every January we would collect Ksh 120 millions shillings per day from land rates. This year we were collecting only Ksh 20 million per day, even after the waiver on penalties. This needs to be addressed urgently,” he said.

Senator Sakaja pledged to address the workers’ grievances if elected saying he will prioritize their welfare and salaries.

“The mandate of SRC is to set salaries for state officers and to advise on public officers. County workers are public officers it’s the administration’s duty to decide on implementation of the CBA. That will be my priority,” he said.

Sakaja who was accompanied by his running mate James Njoroge Muchiri. said, “Nairobi is no longer the green city in the sun. If elected I will bring order and dignity to the citizens of Nairobi.