- The disclosure was done during the ongoing probe of the board at the Kisii County Assembly by the Labour Committee.
- The Board is facing a litany of accusations presented by petitioner Benson Atika, a Kisii trader.
Image: MAGATI OBEBO
For the members of Kisii County Public Service Board, rare skills constitute standing long hours in the wet dew to guard a forest, persevering the stench from the dumpsite and even sweeping in crowded markets, a Kisii Assembly Labour Committee heard Tuesday.
The disclosure was done during the ongoing probe of the board at the Kisii County Assembly by the Labour Committee.
The Board is facing a litany of accusations presented by petitioner Benson Atika, a Kisii trader.
Atika, interalia, indicts the board members for violating the standard procurement regulations, recruitment and retainment of staff at the devolved unit.
Board vice chair Bogonko Ondiba was, for the better part of Tuesday afternoon at pains to explain the existence of ' rare skills' warranting the extension of service for some pensioners that inform part of the forty-five charges brought against them in the petition.
One Toel Ongeri, 63, for instance, was found exhibiting a rare skill 'withstanding the strong pungent Odour from the dumpsite'.
The skill, argued board vice chair Bogonko Ondiba, forced them to extend his term of service beyond the mandatory 60 years requirement
Ondiba told the committee that the dumping site was not a place anybody can work and that it can ''suffocate even the committee if they dared to make a visit''.
"Such is the skill to withstand that stench in him and that is why, we retained him in service," Ondiba told the Nyacheki MCA - Naftal Onkoba- led committee.
The Board official was hard-pressed to explain why they failed to place an advert for the elderly staffer's replacement to gauge his rarity of skill in the dumps.
An Evans Omwenga, another cleaner at Rioma market, 62, was said to have been re-engaged for the same rare skill severally.
He was deployed to continue 'cleaning the crowded place' because no suitable replacement was forthcoming.
Also 'fire ' and rare zeal' in one David Omaribe, a fire officer at the disaster management department, convinced the board to give him a lease to continue serving in the same capacity though he had clocked 60.
His position is yet to be advertised as his renewed contract would end on April 23, 2023.
Ondiba spoke of the 'pain' of board members getting new casual staffers to replace many elderly staffers, who had overstayed their tour of duty in public service.
Another, Cyrus Nyaga, a procurement officer, had his contract extended beyond the normal retirement period without due diligence in undertaking replacements by the board.
During the grilling, petitioner Benson Atika said the board acted ultra vires in undertaking the additional recruitments, bloating the service beyond the set limits.
Atika, in the petition, cited the additional 8 extra ECDE teachers recruited above the 47 ECDE vacancies the board advertised.
For Polytechnics, the board had advertised for 42 vacancies but recruited an additional eight more, attracting the attention of the petitioner who wants the entire board hounded out.
The examination ends Wednesday before the committee retreat to write a report.