The Auditor General has criticised the Central Bank of Kenya's (CBK) human resources department for alleged multiple breaches.
According to Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, hiring managers at the regulator may be allowing applicants without the mandatory experience or service requirements to be employed by the bank.
“There were instances during the recruitment processes where shortlisted or successful candidates did not fully meet the mandatory experience or service period requirements even though they were previously acting in the positions they were subsequently appointed to,” said Gathungu.
She also alleged that the hiring managers do not consult the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) when setting salaries and benefits, which is contrary to the law.
“Non-adherence to internal human resources policies was noted in staff promotions, specifically concerning placement on salary scales and promotions to non-succeeding grades,” Auditor-General stated.
She accused the managers of failing to promote staff properly, mishandling secondments to other state agencies and not reimbursing costs. Accroding to Gathungu, this exposed the regulator to potential financial losses and legal risks.
The Auditor General also reported that the regulator had operated for a year without a full board of directors, which had affected the staffing of committees.
Hiring Malpractices
There have been several concerns in the country about malpractice by companies hiring managers.
The report on CBK's hiring came a month after Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) was accused of allegedly favouring certain communities when hiring as only two ethnic groups take the majority of jobs at the State corporation.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Cohesion and Equal Opportunities on September 26, AFA Director General Bruno Linyiri found it difficult to explain the ethnic imbalance within the authority, citing the absence of a human resources manual.
Nyeri Town MP Duncan Mathenge challenged Linyiri to explain the hiring criteria used by the company, pointing out that two communities reportedly dominate the authority's staff numbers.
"The Authority has never had a human resource manual since its inception. Our staff were only deployed. We have not employed directly. However, we received the necessary HR framework this year and plan to recruit while addressing irregularities flagged by the Auditor General,” Linyiri said.
he Authority was also accused of marginalising people living with disabilities (PLWDs) in terms of both employment and access to opportunities.