Sources within City Hall told The Weekly Vision that dozens of employees nearing the mandatory retirement age of 60 have been sent on terminal leave, with more expected to follow in the coming months. “Several of them have already left, and more will follow. It has been a big problem retaining them on the payroll when most of them simply report to work and then leave, especially those in ward offices,” one source said
By The Weekly Vision Reporter
The Nairobi City County Government has begun retiring about 3,000 ageing employees it has long been stuck with, after earlier efforts to send them on early retirement were thwarted by the Kenya Local Government Workers Union (KLGWU).
Sources within City Hall told The Weekly Vision that dozens of employees nearing the mandatory retirement age of 60 have been sent on terminal leave, with more expected to follow in the coming months. “Several of them have already left, and more will follow. It has been a big problem retaining them on the payroll when most of them simply report to work and then leave, especially those in ward offices,” one source said.
Although the county is grappling with a bloated wage bill of over KSh 17 billion, it has continued paying older employees in departments such as Environment, even as it hires younger workers to unclog drains and collect garbage, particularly in residential estates.
Recently, Governor Johnson Sakaja absorbed 3,500 young workers employed under the Green Army Programme on permanent and pensionable terms to help clean up the Central Business District (CBD).
Two years ago, KLGWU successfully opposed an earlier plan for early retirement, terming it discriminatory and contrary to labour laws. The union also accused City Hall of failing to remit more than KSh 42 billion to various employee schemes, including pension contributions, over the years.
While many of the older employees spend much of their time idling after marking attendance, the union argued that they should be treated with the same consideration as workers suffering from other health conditions, such as depression.
At the time, it was estimated that about 60 per cent of the county’s workforce was aged between 50 and 60 years. To address the situation, Governor Sakaja has embarked on a hiring spree. A report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu covering the period to June 2024 indicates that City Hall’s staff establishment rose to 13,355 from 5,777, more than double the number of employees in 2022.
This has seen the county’s wage bill more than triple to KSh 17.3 billion in the last three years. “Over the three years under review, there was a drastic increase in the number of employees and payroll costs,” the Auditor-General noted.
The county’s wage expenditure now stands at 55.9 per cent of total spending, a clear violation of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Regulations, which cap personnel costs at 35 per cent of total expenditure.
In addition to hiring new staff, the county government has also converted hundreds of casual workers into permanent and pensionable employees.
The audit was based on both manual payroll records and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Database (IPPD). City Hall continues to face difficulties paying salaries and remitting third-party deductions, leading to frequent strikes and absenteeism among its workforce.
