The Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) is set to hire at least 1,000 new enforcement officers in a bid to replace an old workforce at the inspectorate department.
This is after NMS was on April 17, 2020, allocated Sh3.8 billion by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani in a supplementary budget to kick start its operations.
Sh2.2 billion will be spent on salaries and operations while the rest appropriated for the rollout of new development projects.
The Mohammed Badi-led administration last Friday redeployed 800 enforcement officers from City Hall. However, the new office is now looking at engaging 300 new enforcement officers as well as 700 constables to be added to the workforce as from next month.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) chairman Stephen Kirogo said the recruitment is part of succession planning at the inspectorate department and is geared towards renewing the ageing workforce in preparation for the retirement of most of the officers.
He said that in the next three years, almost 75 percent of the total workforce inherited from City Hall will be heading for retirement necessitating early recruitment.
“We have a very aged workforce and there is need now to renew the workforce making it now necessary and urgent to recruit so that as the others retire we are able to have a trained workforce already in place because if they go for retirement and we don’t recruit early enough, there will be a huge gap,” said Mr Kirogo.
A biometric report by City Hall last November indicated that about a half of Nairobi County government employees were over 50 years with most set to retire soon.
The report showed that out of the 11,603 City Hall workers, 5,709 are aged 50 years and above with only 792 of the employees below the age of 35.
A total of 2, 712 workers are aged between 55 and 59 years; those aged between 50 and 54 years are 2, 978 while another 2, 663 are in the age bracket of between 45 and 49 years.
Those in the ages between 40 and 44 years are 1, 757 while those below the 40-year mark are only 1, 474 where 682 are between 35 and 39 years; 621 are aged between 30 and 34 years while only 171 are below the age of 30.
He, however, explained that the recruitment was not new but a re-advertisement of an advertisement in March by Nairobi County Public Service Board, which was halted to facilitate the handover process after the transfer of functions between City Hall and the National Government.
“If you recall before handing over of functions, Nairobi County Public Service Board had advertised the positions. This was halted to facilitate the handing over. This is what we have brought back. The enforcement officers will be the supervisory staff and applicants must be graduates who will be trained to supervise the constabularies,” he said.
The County Board had advertised for more than 1, 400 new staff comprising of county constables, firefighters and Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) caregivers.
The new staff was to comprise of 800 new county constables, 200 firefighters and 498 ECDE caregivers.
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