The Kenyan Parliament has been put on the spot for a number of irregularities in the security workforce tasked with manning the national legislative chambers.
In a 9minute long expose by a local media house, insiders contended to Parliament having a bloated security workforce with numerous roles duplicated.
Among the raft of allegations raised include the security workforce having no central command to direct and assign specific roles.
Due to the large number of repeated roles within the Parliament, the investigation raises issues of employees absconding work and going unnoticed for large periods of time.
“The current setup in security, the nature of the multi-agency teams, we have firstly the sergeant at arms in both houses, National Assembly and Senate, all they do is security work,” explained one of the whistleblowers.
“In addition, we have in-house parliament security and safety team.”
Parliament Confusing Security Set-up
Furthermore, Parliament has reportedly engaged the services of national police officers as third-party service providers, resulting in a confusing security handling.
This setup, as described by insiders, includes various police units such as the General Service Unit (GSU), Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU), Administration Police (AP), and personal bodyguards, leading to a lack of coordination and central command.
“Hakuna command in leadership, kumaanisha kitu ikitokea God forbid hakutakuwa na mtu wa kutoa leadership kwanza sababu kila Mtu anaangalia watu wake,” translated to there’s no command in leadership and if any strange instance occurs, then there’s no person to coordinate response, since each unit is on their own)
The investigation also shed light on the absence of a proper hierarchy and schemes of service for security officers serving under the parliamentary joint services unit.
Also Read: Parliament Has Failed its Oversight Role – Robert Mbui
Skewed Deployment of Security Workforce
Additionally, a disproportionate deployment of officers, particularly for lower-level duties, further illustrates the inefficiencies within the system.
“Our sources say this and what they term as a bloated security force means that nearly half the number of officers on the roll either do very little of what they are meant to do or are simply ghost workers,” reports the exposé.
The issue of ghost workers within Parliament’s security workforce is particularly concerning, with insiders admitting that a significant number of officers do not show up for duty yet continue to receive payment without detection.
“Our sources admit that they fall under the ghost workers category; often they do not show up for duty, and no one notices their absence, but they still get paid,” reveals the investigation.
The presence of deceased officers’ names as well as that of those who have been transferred remain on the payroll further pointing to the flaws in the security payroll system.
For instance, the investigations revealed that communication from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had instructed the chief security and safety officer of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) to remove a deceased corporal from their records.
“Any list of security teams, irrespective, must be broken down into numbers, rank, and name. The payroll in parliament does not have rank, which is a direct breach,” stated an insider.
“You can’t rule out ghost workers.”
Financial Implications to the Economy
Moreover, the financial implications of these irregularities are substantial, with taxpayers footing a bill of Ksh30.7 million per month in allowances paid to security personnel.
Despite government’s purported fight on reducing wage bill, allegations of irregularities persist within the civil service, including discrepancies in the allocation of allowances and the presence of ghost workers.
Also Read: Parliament Launches Probe on Financial Misconduct at KUCCPS
“This armed security element in national police is over bloated, and in addition to that, there are ghost workers on the roll,” reveals the insider.
Notably, even specialized units, such as the dog section, are not immune to these irregularities.
Despite having a contingent of dogs and handlers listed on the payroll, the actual deployment falls short, raising questions about the authenticity of the reported numbers.
“The dog section has a contingent of dogs and handlers, on the payroll we have a list of 15, and yet on the daily, we have no more than five dogs,” reveals one of the whistleblowers.
“From the causal eye, the rest of the dogs and handlers are ghosts, they never report.”
