Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wisley Rotich has cancelled an internal advert for four posts of directors and the CEO of Iten County Referral Hospital CEO following a public outcry.
Residents raised concerns after the names of the shortlisted candidates were shared on social media by the county public service board saying some names kept recurring in all the posts advertised.
The governor said they had opted for an internal advertisement so that they would promote already serving officers instead of hiring externally as a way of managing the ballooning wage bill.
Rotich has reiterated time and again that recurrent expenditure takes a large chunk of the county’s budget using Sh.3.7 billion out of the Sh.4.6 billion it gets from the national treasury saying if the county hires more employees, he county will be left with no funds for development.
In a notice to the board, Rotich has said the list of candidates shortlisted by the board had not met the desired criteria thereby advising the board to advertise the position afresh externally to attract more suitable candidates.
“The positions were established to expedite the fulfillment of my manifesto but from the list, it clearly shows that few candidates were shortlisted eventually reducing the pool of qualified professionals to choose from which may not yield the desired results that meet the expectations of our county,” he said.”
He said a fresh advertisement would give more candidates an opportunity to express interest and eventually recruit the most suitable and qualified candidates for the positions who can deliver.
The posts advertised included the director resource mobilization and partnerships development, director peace, conflict resolution and disaster management, director youth empowerment and enterprise development (Pepea Program) and director, service delivery unit and the CEO Iten County Referral Hospital.