It’s déjà-vu all over again. This article is about ‘things that go bump in the night’ in Nairobi, and indeed in the daytime. No, we are not talking about Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero allegedly attempting to land a right hook on Rachel Shebash but there is a direct link to Dr Kidero as we are back to the haunting subject of ‘ghost workers’ and Nairobi County Council, and the bumping up of service charges in Kenya’s capital city.

NAIROBI: LATEST AUDIT – 2,260 ‘GHOST WORKERS’

An audit of City Hall’s payroll has revealed, as reported in the Business Daily, a possible 2,260 ‘ghost workers’ being paid for doing nothing, indeed for not existing. Admittedly some do exist it’s just that they appear on the payroll five times. Some also exist but do not live in Kenya, let alone Nairobi, with several ‘employees’ appearing to live in Dubai: now that’s a long way to come to work every day.

The cost to the Nairobi County government, and therefore to the Kenyan taxpayer and those that pay ‘service charges’ in Nairobi (what ‘services’ asks the Kenya Forum?), is estimated to be Sh100 million every month!

NAIROBI: SERVICES CHARGES UP 100 PER CENT

Meanwhile the Business Daily also reported, just a day before the latest ‘ghost workers’ revelation materialized, that by signing the County Finances Bill, Governor Evans Kidero was ushering in increases to service charges in Nairobi by up to 100 per cent!

Parking for saloon car, for example, went up from Sh140 to Sh300; parking for lorries increased from Sh500 to Sh1,000; and city mortuary storage fees (are there ghost workers in the city mortuary, the Kenya Forum asks?) were also increased from Sh350 to Sh500 per day.

DEJA-VU

Remember, the Nairobi County government payroll was largely inherited from the old Nairobi City Council list of non-existent, incompetent and utterly corrupt employees (and non-existent employees).

How often has the Kenya Forum written on this and related subjects? Lots, and lots, and lots…

In November 2010 we first flagged up the question of the then estimated to be over 4,000 ‘ghost workers’ at Nairobi City Council.

‘PwC report on Nairobi City Council: ‘unskilled’ and ‘incompetent’’

‘Nairobi City Council’s ‘incompetence’: Kidero and Kisia in conflict’

‘Nairobi City Council (NCC): High Time To Clean Out The ‘Den Of Corruption’

SHOW US YOU CARE DR KIDERO

This is our point. The good people of Nairobi, like Kenyans everywhere, have just been hit by a large increase in the cost of living brought about by the imposition of VAT on basic foodstuffs and much else besides, and people living in Nairobi have also been hit by a huge increase in service charges.

So, Dr Kidero, show us you care, get rid of the ‘ghost workers’ and incompetent staff, cut your costs by over Sh100 million every month and start taking the financial burden off the backs of Nairobi residents. In the long term we’ll all be better off.