The Vihiga administration is auditing its departments to weed out cartels and incompetent staff, Governor Wilber Ottichilo said on Monday.
Ottichilo said in 2020-21, he must have clear figures of county workers. Public Service and Administration CEC Pamella Kimwele is expected to set the record straight on the workforce strength.
He said the audit will reveal the number of county works and how their payments are being conducted.
“This audit will further help us control the current bloated wage bill consuming the larger portion of our revenue leaving development in an awkward position,” the governor said at the county headquarters.
The county has been struggling with a bloated wage bill since 2017-18.
Ottichilo said he is not aware of how many workers the county has despite being in office for the three financial years. He spoke during the state of the county address in the assembly.
Another challenging area, he said, is incompetent staff, especially in procurement, finance and transport.
Procurement has been on the spot for incompetence. Most of the staffers within the docket lack the required skills.
He said most staff members in the Finance department led by Alfred Indeche have no technical know-how to run the IFMIS.
On the Belgian government-funded water project in the county, Ottichilo said they would use solar panels to cut down electricity costs while pumping water.
He said the Kaimosi and Maseno water supply is 90 per cent complete with Maseno serving Luanda, Mwibona parts of Luanda South and Maseno University.
Lunyerere is 65 per cent complete after its construction began late, he said.
It will serve Mbale town, Majengo, Chavakali and some parts of Sabatia subcounty.
“Once this project is over we are going to have clean water in our county and typhoid and cholera will not be part of our diseases any more,” he said.
Already, the county has bought connecting water pipes worth Sh10 million.
Edited by R.Wamochie