Rakia Farah Ibrahim is the new Secretary and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Garissa County Public Service Board (CPSB).
The new CEO took the oath of office Friday at the County Headquarters during a function presided over by Chief Magistrate Stephen Mbungi and witnessed by Governor Nathif Jama.
The Board, comprising of the Chair, the Vice Chair and the members is responsible for the Board's policy development and recruitment of staff on behalf of the County Government other than the executive appointments.
Therefore, the CEO heads the secretariat of the board, managing the board's human resources.
Speaking at the event, Governor Jama while congratulating Farah expressed his optimism in her saying she will be adding more impetus to the public service board.
He challenged her to strive to serve the people of Garissa with impartiality.
“With the impressive qualifications and a wealth of experience in our team of esteemed County Public Service Board members, I am confident that our human resources management will be strengthened, leading to greater efficiency and effectiveness in serving the people of Garissa,” the Governor said.
Rakia promised to carry out her duties with transparency, and diligence and adhere to the constitution calling on residents to her office the necessary support.
Resident Abdi Mohamed urged the new CEO to strive to serve with honesty, saying that the Assembly unanimously approved her nomination, which was a clear indicator that she had been picked on merit.
"It would be wrong for the board to resort to giving jobs to relatives and cronies," she said.
“We expect them to oversee cleanup of the human resource department through thorough auditing so ghost workers are eradicated."
The board has in the past been accused of employing top-level staff among them directors and their deputies without a degree certificate.
This was revealed by Governor Jama when he made public a two-month human resource audit report.
What followed was the sacking of all staff deemed to have been irregularly hired.
This led to numerous court battles between the county government and the victims.