World Bank has announced the start of the second Kenya Devolution Support Program (KDSP II), which will require recruiting numerous Kenyans.
The project aims to build on the first phase which closed in 2021. It will address challenges facing Kenya's devolution including weak payroll management controls, and bills (including pension contributions) are not paid on time and the stock of pending bills is high, affecting the supply of goods and services to counties (including remittances of statutory deductions.
It will also focus on the extensive use of manual payrolls and HR records that are not up to date to inform decision-making on HRM among other concerns.
"The Program development objective is to strengthen county performance in the financing, management, coordination, and accountability for resources. The program is a hybrid with both Program for Results (PforR) and Investment Program Financing (IPF)," reads part of the report.
In the Labour Management Procedures (LMP) from the global company, it was revealed that the needed labour will include direct workers, and contracted workers. Some of the direct workers will include civil servants, and the National Program Coordination Unit (NPCU).
Direct workers are employees who will be contracted by Kenya and have a directly contracted employment relationship and specific control over the work, working conditions, and treatment of the project worker.
Meanwhile, contracted workers are those employed and engaged by a third party to perform work or provide services related to the core functions of the project, where the third party exercises control over the work, working conditions, and treatment of the project worker.
However, the World Bank did not reveal the exact number of employees needed for this project. Some of the roles revealed include program coordinator, occupational health and safety specialist (OSH), grievance redress specialist, environmental specialist, and social specialist.
According to the report, the employees will be in different categories, including skilled labour (administrators), semi-skilled labour (drivers, security), and basic labour (vehicle breakdown servicemen, translators). The locals will occupy these positions.
"SDD will ensure Kenyan consultancies firms shall be given priority. International consultancy companies will be contracted only where skills are not available among Kenyan national consultancies firms," read part of the report.
However, the World Bank emphasized that no minors will be employed, adding that each applicant will be required to present their birth certificates and national identification cards.
All salaries and allowances will be paid in line with the Employment Act. Additionally, all employees will be subject to deductions as required by the Act.
Despite the procedures being published, the timeline for recruitment is yet to be revealed.
