Wamatangi orders headcount to smoke out ghost workers

Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi has ordered an immediate headcount of all county workers in a bid to weed out any ghost workers that might be on his government’s payroll.

Wamatangi instructed County Executive Members, Chief Officers, and Directors of all departments to start enlisting all the staff working under them and submit the official documentation of their workforce before the end of the month.

The registration exercise, the new governor said, will be undertaken to ensure that non-existent worker are deregistered to stop drawing salaries from the county coffers.

The new governor regretted that while the county has been paying Sh 600 million every month in salaries, ghost workers largely benefit from the deep-rooted fraud that he said has been denying legitimate workers better wages.

“Every CEC, CO, and director of all departments must submit a list of all workers working under them including the casuals. You must also own the list you will submit so that we get rid of all non-existent workers who have been illegally drawing salaries from the county,” Wamatangi said.

Speaking when he met all county workers from Thika, Juja, Ruiru, Gatundu North, and Gatundu North Sub-Counties, Wamatangi said his administration was not on a witch-hunt mission and assured workers that their jobs are well secured so long as they professionally execute their mandates.

He insisted that unlike in the past when county staffers have been labeled as ruthless and cruel, every employee must now put on a cheery face while serving Kiambu people seeking services in various departments.

“In every department, I want us to start doing the necessary changes that will ensure better delivery of services. We for instance must introduce a traffic marshals department to put to an end year of crazy traffic in Thika, Juja, Githurai, and Ruiru that has hampered the growth of businesses due to slow movement of goods and services,” he said.

Wamatangi to fight cartels

Meanwhile, the county boss vowed to stage a fierce fight against thieves and cartels in the county whose mission is only to loot, saying that anyone arrested will be dealt with without mercy.

“If found, no one else will facilitate your jailing other than Kimani Wamatangi. I will do that without any fear, we cannot have a county with a negative image all the time because of corruption. We must prudently use all the resources available to better the lives of our people,” Wamatangi said.