KISUMU COUNTY ACCUSED OF LUCK OF TRANSPARENCY DURING RECRUITMEN – Weekly Citizen

THE Management of the Kisumu County Public Service has been told to carefully observe the provision of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and other relevant laws like the County Government Act of 2012 to discharge its duties diligently without fear, favor or ill-will affection while carrying out the recruitment exercise to those who will be serving the public in Kisumu County.

The 7 member board which is led by Charles Babu Karan has been accused of not being transparent in the manner it has carried out the just concluded exercise of recruiting Ward administrators as well as the Village administration which it is alleged to be hell-bent in ensuring that ODM Party loyalists especially the old benefit other than the
youth who have been looking for the jobs tirelessly.

To begin with, there is a serious allegation that the Board has allegedly fixed some names of those candidates who were not shortlisted in a list that appeared on July 24 this year for those who were to be interviewed for the position of the five ward administrators and 70 village administrators within the entire county of Kisumu.

These candidates are also alleged to have undergone the interview process that has been conducted through a zoom cloud meeting from August 10 to 21 when the interviews were concluded.

Some Civil Societies Organizations have since challenged the Board to give a list of those who were selected for interviewed claiming that mystery has crowded the whole exercise.

The other major thing that has surrounded the whole exercise is the issue of a number of old and retired people who have since been shortlisted and interviewed for the position of the Village Administrators.

These people are said to have been recruited due to alleged influence from the Orange Democratic Movement {Party} who want them to be rewarded as those who have always stood with the party since time immemorial.

They include Billy Adero who was a councilor in Muhoroni area from 1992 to 1997, Samuel Odhiambo Nyabinda who was a councilor within Kisumu Municipality from 2002 to 2007 and was defeated by James Oyoo aka Soldier in the 2007 General Election in 2007 for the North Ward seat.

The other one is a retired Chief Jabungu Ouya who is said to be having an immense influence and has managed to have his two children employed as a revenue Collector and an Enforcement Officer at the County Government of Kisumu and now wants to be a village administrator within one of the villages within Kabonyo/Kanyagwal ward among others.

These individuals are ranging about 60 years, adding that there is a need to consider youth and youthful people for such positions.

When the list for the shortlisted candidates was made public, a number of Civil Societies Organizations begun criticizing it when they questioned what criteria was used to shortlist such people who had worked and retired for interviews for the jobs.

Public service Act requires that anyone above 45 years and above should never be employed in the public service.

Civil Society organization crusaders in Kisumu have argued that such slots should be left for the youth to compete for such positions because they still have a lot to do in life.

The issue of the ODM Party alleged push for some of its ardent old supporters to be part and parcel of those who are to be recruited became eminent when the now suspended Kisumu County ODM Party Vice-Chairman Kennedy Ajwang Aka Jege Jege led highly powered goons to the offices of the Kisumu County Public Service Board with an aim of ejecting the officials there claiming that the previous exercise for hiring revenue officers and enforcement officers were not above board.

The move later cost Jege Jege his seat when he was suspended after the ODM Party distanced itself from the act terming it barbaric and uncouth.

Jege Jege was hospitalized after a section of the youth allied to ODM who were not happy with what he and his team did rough him up injuring him.

It is thought that the just concluded exercise for recruiting both Ward and Village administrators is also a sham hence the need to call for transparency and accountability in the whole exercise in line with Article 10 of the Constitution which talks about national Values and Principles.