Laikipia Governor, Joshua Irungu, has postponed the recruitment of casual labour workers due to disagreements between the existing workers and the administration regarding employment timelines and frameworks.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, August 22, the Governor announced that the recruitment scheduled for Wednesday, August 23, would be delayed.
The delay aims to provide more time for the formulation of a standardised employment policy within the county and enable the administration to streamline various aspects of its recruitment procedures.
While citing the county's commitment to adhering to Public Service recruitment guidelines, the Governor observed that the original plan was to hire about 400 casual county workers.
“We chose to stop the recruitment so that we can formulate a policy for recruiting and managing our casuals in the county government,” the Governor noted.
At the heart of the conflict is that a section of the existing workers feel like they will be axed to pave way for the new recruits.
Specifically, a section of the workers have taken offence since they came on board believing that they would be absorbed on a permanent basis.
Conversely, the contracts of a section of the existing casual county employees are set to expire at the end of August.
However, the recent conflicts have derailed the plans as the county government scrambles to address the crisis.
“We have stopped all the recruitment process that was scheduled for tomorrow, so that we can give more time to those whose contracts are yet to expire. We want to give the existing workers 3 more months from 1st September to 30th November,” the Governor noted.
The County chief says that the Executive is working with Members of County Assembly (MCAs) to come up with a policy to guide the employment of casual workers.
The document will also guide how long the contracts will be and which employees qualify to be hired on a permanent basis.
Governor Irungu said that the county government will work with Members of County Assembly to facilitate the implementation of new contracts for current employees, aligning with the ongoing efforts to establish a revised recruitment policy.
In the meantime, he urged all county residents to come together and actively participate in crafting this new policy, emphasising its significance for the betterment of the entire county.
He further requested the recruits that were scheduled to appear on Wednesday and Thursday to remain calm and wait until the county government calls them in.
