Elgeyo-Marakwet: It is staff headcount as leadership acknowledges wage bill burden

A new audit report has revealed damning discrepancies in the staff recruitment in Elgeyo Marakwet County which is impacting heavily on the county’s wage bill.

Governor Wisley Rotich's administration has been grappling with a ballooning wage bill which has impacted on its service delivery to the people especially on critical sectors like development.

Elgeyo Marakwet County Assembly on July 2, 2025, adopted the report on Administration, Justice and ICT Committee on the Human Resource staff headcount carried out in 2023 which established that of the 2,858 staff who turned up for the audit exercise, only 2,499 of them were falling under either of the three(3) payrolls (IPPD, Manual, and Casuals).

According to the audit report tabled at the County Assembly by Administration, Justice and ICT Committee Chairperson Paul Suter, there are 359 staff that turned up for the headcount, but could not be traced in any of the payrolls above.

“The above discrepancies indicate lack of periodic review of the departmental establishments, thus lack of knowledge on the exact number of existing staff under each department and the County as a whole,” said Mr Suter, who is also the Sambirir ward Member of County Assembly (MCA).

“It's difficult to know which records are reliable in terms of the total County employees. In addition, it's noted that there are 490 staff who are not stationed anywhere within the county,” adds the report.

The audit report notes that 96 employees turned up bearing certificates of People with Disability (PWD) purportedly issued by the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD).

However, upon subjecting them to a test of due diligence and conducting the background check with the NCPWD database, a portion of them (58) were not found in the NCPWD system.

The audit report notes that cumulatively, the highest number of recruitment and promotions was done in the department of Health but the department of Education and Agriculture which, are equally devolved functions, were not accorded a similar opportunity.

According to the audit report, a total of 112 staff who did not appear for the headcount but were paid in the payrolls of February 2023 (IPPD and Manual) with some claiming that they were off network and did not receive the information on headcount in time.

“The committee feels like this is a flimsy reason to evade scrutiny. Two(2) of the staff were already retired, but miraculously they were still being paid in the February 2023 payroll. Another two(2) were deceased, but they were paid in the February 2023 payroll,” said Mr Jonah Tanui, a member of the committee.

The report also notes that there were cases of irregular promotions where192 staff skipped various job groups in one promotion without evidence of interviews carried out.

“Whereas the reason advanced for the promotions is that the staff promoted had stagnated for a long time, it is noted that there are cases of 101 staff that have stagnated since 2013. This is a clear case of unprocedural, subjective, and discriminatory promotions,” said Ms Tabitha Kimoning, another member of the committee.

The County Assembly unanimously resolved to allocate a budget for an in-depth and forensic audit to be conducted by the Auditor General’s Office on the County Executive payrolls and align them with official records held by the County Public Service Board (CPSB).

The audit, according to the Assembly, should prioritise cases of retired, deceased, and overseas-relocated staff to establish criminal culpability and for immediate cessation of payments and the initiation of processes to recover erroneously paid funds.

The county Assembly has also tasked the CPSB to furnish the County Assembly with a report justifying why promotions disguised as re-designations were sanctioned without following due process.

“This report should be availed within 30 days upon adoption of this report by the house or otherwise the promotions should be voided with immediate effect,” directed the committee.

Governor Rotich acknowledged that his administration was grappling with a ballooning wage bill which he noted was impacting on its operations but said the issue was being addressed.

According to Rotich, a key strategy involves enhancing revenue collection through technology and streamlining expenditure processes, adding that the devolved unit targets to reduce the wage bill percentage to 43.45 in the 2025/26 fiscal year.

"We are also strengthening our revenue base by improving how we collect our own revenue. Efforts are underway to automate key areas like drug management, procurement, revenue collection, and project management to improve efficiency," said Mr Rotich.

According to the Assembly, the County Government should empower the CPSB by granting it full financial and operational autonomy to ensure effective and efficient discharge of its mandate.

The committee has recommended that the County Government should consider conducting a job and workload analysis to support recruitment of new staff and updating the staff establishment.

“The County Government should also ensure that it always reviews recruitment decisions against the departmental approved staff establishment,” stated the committee.

The session chaired by Speaker Lawi Kibire heard that Sh80 million had allegedly been used to pay salaries to ghost workers by August, 2023.

On March 13, 2023, the County Executive embarked on the process of identifying and engaging the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) to execute the audit exercise.