Members of Nyamira County Assembly have been cautioned against interfering with independence of County Assembly Service Board and County Public Service Board which are entrusted with recruitment of public servants.
Speaking at Ikonge in Nyamira on Tuesday, Senator Mong’are Okong’o said the two bodies were having a difficult time in recruiting qualified personnel following duress they were facing from the assembly members.
According to him, he had gathered enough evidence on MCAs fronting their persons of choice to certain jobs and threatening board members of dire consequences if they failed to yield to their demands.
“MCAs should respect the work done by recruitment bodies because the bodies are independent. I have collected enough information and I want to challenge them to allow the recruitment bodies do their work without intimidation or we take legal actions against them. You can’t force candidates of your choice to be recruited in a competitive exercise,” he said.
He said the county was likely to recruit incompetent personnel in case the menace is not combated and challenged the MCAs to respect the rule of law by allowing the bodies work independently.
“I am a senior lawyer and I just can’t make allegations without knowledge. The county is likely to recruit incompetent fellows and we should not blame the CASB and CPSB members because they are working under duress and want to protect their jobs. It’s our MCAs to rise to the occasion and desist from interfering with independence of recruitment bodies,” he said.
He said the pressure from MCAs to the two bodies was also likely to violate the constitution in terms of regional and gender balance when recruiting a past from disadvantaging people from humble backgrounds from getting jobs.
“This means that one cannot get a job if he or she has no leader to recommend him. It’s wrong for politicians to interfere with recruitment bodies and the habit is likely to lead to serious constitutional violation of the constitution in terms of region and gender balance in recruitment,” he said.