The government has said it will fire at least 200 workers on contract at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) by July 1, 2023.
Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei made the announcement on Thursday stating that the two-week audit ordered by the new board of the troubled authority is to rationalize operations at the institution which has been riddled with graft cases.
“When we say that those who are in contract will not have their contracts renewed, it is because we want to optimize for the sake of having enough money to develop this country, or else every money will be in the pockets of our employees and nothing will move…so that is something that has been identified by the government,” he stated.
Also Read: DCI to Help Safaricom Fight Fraud Cases
Koskei further said that the government will conduct such audits in other public institutions with bloated workforce.
“Many institutions, majorly parastatals, have realized they have more staff than they need. Generally, a wage bill should be 40 per cent and below but now if you get wage bill going past 60 per cent, 65 per cent, 70 per cent then what is remaining for development?” He posed.
“So, we are calling ourselves to the table and saying look, how can we ensure that we get substantial amount of money to go to development, and the only way to do that is to revisit the issue of staff establishment.”
KEMSA has had numerous scandals in the past few years among them the Covid scandal that led to loss of billions, the mosquito net scandal that led to the sacking of health Ps and suspension of former CEO Terry Kiunge.
Discussion about this post