Politics and policy
A traffic marshall and a police officer control vehicles along Uhuru
Highway. World Bank has pulled out of a deal to fund the employment of
1,000 traffic marshalls in Nairobi, leaving City Hall to meet an
additional wage bill of Sh400 million. Photo/FILE
By KIARIE NJOROGE
In Summary
- Thursday, the World Bank said the split with City Hall was amicable and there was no politics involved.
- The traffic marshalls replaced police in manning city streets, especially in the Central Business District, getting a boost from cameras mounted on specific road junctions.
- Nairobi has 11,000 workers and will spend Sh13.7 billion in wages against expected revenues of Sh26.3 billion in the fiscal year starting July.
The World Bank has pulled out of a deal to fund the
employment of 1,000 traffic marshalls in Nairobi, leaving City Hall to
meet an additional wage bill of Sh400 million.
SHARE THIS STORY
City Hall’s Budget committee says the World Bank dropped the
plan following political pressure, adding that Nairobi Senator Mike
Sonko and the police expressed reservations about deployment of the
officers in the streets.
This forced Nairobi to revise its budget last week
to accommodate the marshalls’ salaries, which were not included in the
spending estimates released by Evans Kidero-led government in May.
This is set to add pressure to the City Hall’s wage
bill as Nairobi struggles to rein in salaries to free up cash for
spending on items like health services, roads and water.
“As members may be aware there has been an ongoing
recruitment of traffic marshalls with the process having gone up to an
advanced stage,” said a report of the Budget Committee.
“The Budget committee was informed that the idea
was supposed to be funded by the World Bank which has since pulled out.
Despite the uncertainty on how the officers would be remunerated given
the World Bank move, there were no budget provisions. The committee has
ensured amounts are set aside for their salaries.”
Thursday, the World Bank said the split with City
Hall was amicable and there was no politics involved. “The Nairobi
County Government decided to use its own resources on this activity,”
said the World Bank in an e-mail response.
“The World Bank will finance improvement of traffic
signalling and management system in Nairobi including construction of a
traffic control centre.”
But County Executive for Finance, Gregory
Mwakanongo, Thursday contradicted the World Bank, arguing that the
lender pulled out because City Hall was not ready. He declined to give
details.
The traffic marshalls replaced police in manning
city streets, especially in the Central Business District, getting a
boost from cameras mounted on specific road junctions.
Sonko opposed the deployment, saying that marshalls lacked the experience to handle Nairobi’s traffic.
Sonko opposed the deployment, saying that marshalls lacked the experience to handle Nairobi’s traffic.
His comments came when the senator and Nairobi
governor Evans Kidero openly differed over the management of City Hall
finances. In February, police also denied allegations that officers were
causing massive gridlocks in the city to sabotage the planned
introduction of traffic guides to replace them.
Nairobi has 11,000 workers and will spend Sh13.7
billion in wages against expected revenues of Sh26.3 billion in the
fiscal year starting July.
Consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers had in 2012 recommended a restructuring that would reduce the number to about 7,000.
The traffic marshalls are expected to earn between
Sh25,000 and Sh30,000 per month. The county government is now pushing to
have its fresh recruits trained at the National Youth Service.
No comments :
Post a Comment