NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 22 – The much anticipated headcount at the City Council of Nairobi kicked off on Monday without a hitch despite a boycott call by the Local Government Workers Union.
The three-week exercise will be conducted by international audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in a move aimed at ridding the council of ghost workers.
Despite City Hall’s assurance that the head-count is purely meant to weed out those who continue to draw salaries without working, this has not been received well by the union which reads mischief.
The union demanded that workers be given three months to obtain documents that are needed in the audit.
However, Town Clerk Philip Kisia said the inspection had recorded a high turnout on its first day. He assured the staff who had turned up at City Hall that the information to be collected was only aimed at creating a database for workers.
Previous reports have indicated that the council spends Sh4 billion annually on salaries and allowances. According to the Town Clerk, the exercise will help the council ascertain genuine employees and synchronise the numbers with the payment structures.
The rigorous evaluation will require each worker to provide their birth certificate, national identity card or passport and their National Social Security Fund card.
The council’s employees will also have to provide their letters of appointment, latest payslips, employee number, National Health Insurance Fund card and two colour passport size photos.
Staff registration centres have also been set up across the council’s wards in Dagoretti, Langata, Embakasi, Kasarani, Westlands, Makadara, Kamukunji, Starehe and City Hall.
The last headcount held in 2003, revealed that the local authority had at least 4,000 ghost workers on its payroll.
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