Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu has come up with a new method of eliminating ghost workers in his administration. The outspoken Governor has initiated a head count in a bid to curb the ever rising number of ghost workers in Kiambu County.
The verification exercise that began on Wednesday, is aimed at identifying gaps in service delivery, establish the exact number of employees in the county and reduce wage bill.
Governor Waititu via his his verified Facebook page announced that has already began in Thika, Gatundu North and Gatundu South Sub County headquarters.
“The verification exercise will enable us weed out ghost workers. There have been reports that some people on payroll may be retirees but still receive salaries,” Waititu said.
The County boss noted that the exercise is necessary as it will help in developing a skill inventory and reconcile personnel records.
In Thika, the employees converged at the Thika Sub-county offices where county’s human resource officials from the monitoring and evaluation department conducted the count.
Waititu said all the county employees in twelve sub-counties must participate in the exercise which will be carried out periodically.
I more changes Kiambu has increased land rates by up to 300 per cent for home owners and will start levying holders of agricultural land, dealing a blow to real estate developers.
Stand-alone homes will pay between Sh5 and Sh12 per square metre annually depending on location, up from a range of Sh2 and Sh3—representing a threefold growth on the upper band.
Rental apartment owners will pay between Sh10 and Sh12 from Sh8, reflecting a rise of up to 35 per cent.
Industries will pay Sh10 from Sh8 while owners of commercial buildings and flats have been spared a rise and will continue paying Sh15 per square metre.
The higher rates are contained in the latest Kenya Gazette notice and will shift the focus on Governor Ferdinand Waititu who had promised to cut the higher levies associated with his predecessor William Kabogo.