Babu Owino has refuted viral claims that he has called for the firing of 3,800 members of the Nairobi County staff, instead calling for the doubling of their salaries.
The fake post called for the firing of 3,800 members of the Green Army staff employed by the Nairobi City County Government to work on environmental management and cleanliness initiatives across Nairobi.
Established under the Green Nairobi Department, their primary responsibilities include garbage collection, cleaning public spaces, and maintaining a hygienic urban environment.
In a post on his social media, the Embakasi East Member of Parliament dismissed a post from an account purporting that he called for the firing of the staff after the Stima Plaza garbage debacle.
The post from an account that is eerily similar to his official X account said, “Sack all the 3,800 staff in the name of the Green Army; they are ghost workers. We can't be paying ghost workers with taxpayer money.”
However, in a reply, Babu refuted noting, "The Green Army should be respected and paid double the money they are getting currently. They work so hard, and yet they are paid nothing.”
The reports, which followed the recent reports from the Auditor-General, revealed irregularities in Nairobi County, adding to the growing slew of plots ahead of the 2027 elections.
In the 2023/2024 financial year, the Auditor-General raised concerns over the recruitment of 3,834 staff members without proper advertisement or transparent hiring processes.
The report also noted inconsistencies in salary allocations with some officers' basic salaries changing multiple times within a year and instances of unqualified personnel occupying key positions.
Additionally, the Auditor-General's findings revealed that the Nairobi County Assembly could not account for over Ksh905 million.
This amount included unsupported salary advances, unverified travel expenses, and misclassified expenditures. The report also highlighted the assembly's failure to remit statutory deductions amounting to Ksh67 million.
The report, however, did not address concerns over the hiring of 3,834 staff members without proper advertisement or transparent procedures, as well as inconsistencies in salary allocations and unqualified personnel in key positions.
