Nairobi City County is set to hire 1,000 officers in the Security and Disaster Management sector, constituting of 800 askaris and 200 firemen.
In a memo sent to the the County Public Service Board, Nairobi governor Mike Mbuvi, through acting County Secretary Leboo ole Morintat, explains that the county is in dire need of the staff with the last recruitment of such staff having been done almost 20 years ago.
“The County’s Security, Compliance and Disaster Management Sector has been experiencing challenges in executing its core mandate of security, enforcement, compliance and disaster management due to shortage of staff. An analysis of the sector staff indicates that the last recruitment was done in the year 1999 eighteen years down the line. Over the years, the sector has experienced natural attrition due to deaths and retirements bringing the total staff count as at September 2017 to about 2227 out of which 1026 are officers above 50years of age that is 46% of the workforce,” read the memo in part.
The county projects that 418 staffers in the sector will retire in the next five years. In the last five years, 195 staff members have retired while 87 died with only 10 being dismissed.
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The Fire, Rescue and Disaster Management Sector, currently has a total of 148 staffers. The recommended number in Nairobi is 620, hence the county falls short of 472 workers.
In the enforcement sector, the county has a deficit of 845 City askaris since only 17 are currently in service, according to the memo. On the other hand, City Hall has 411 corporals as compared to the initial establishment of 55. As at September 2017, the total staff in the sector was 2,227.
Under the current establishment, the staff members will receive a basic salary of between Ksh 12,000 to Ksh 14,000 at the entry level.
