Strikes galore as City Hall struggles to pay salaries amid bloated workforce

The embattled Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja came into office with a promise to ensure county workers are paid their salaries on time, which would have been a break with the past when they could go for months without pay.

However, the reality is that things have never been rosy with employees being forced to turn to online credit lenders and shylocks to survive.

Their unions have, in turn, have had to frequently resort to industrial action to demand payment of salaries, remittance of statutory deductions and implementation of return-to-work formulae.

In the latest episode, City Hall workers threatened to down tools last week after the county government failed to remit their July salaries, threatening to paralyse critical services such as garbage collection, traffic management, revenue collection, parking and general office services.

At the same time, nurses and midwives, clinical officers and laboratory technicians were among the first to go on strike over delayed three-month salaries, unfulfilled return-to-work agreements and failing to remit statutory deductions leaving patients stranded and others forced to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for services at private hospitals.

Sakaja and his administration have always blamed delayed disbursements by the National Treasury for its failure to pay salaries on time.

Following the latest delay, he cited the transition to the new financial year as the cause as he promised to ensure it is addressed.

“During the financial year, salaries are paid on time by the end of the month from the 27th. There was just a delay because it is a new financial year. When the budget is late, it must be uploaded for the Controller of Budget and that is why we published a notice to inform workers of the delay,” he said during a TV interview.

However, critics say the problem is bigger than delayed disbursements.

They cite City Hall’s bloated workforce, saying it is proving to be a drain on its coffers, making timely payment of salaries unsustainable.

And here, Sakaja is his own worst enemy.

According to Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, the county now stands at over 16,300 workers, up from roughly 5,700 when he took office in 2022.

In addition, 3,500 Green Army workers, who are tasked with garbage collection, clearing the drainage system and sweeping streets, were put on permanent and pensionable terms.

Sakaja has also employed seven advisors earning nearly Sh300,000.

This has seen its payroll rise to over Sh17.5 billion yet the county has failed to improve on its own source revenue, which stands at about Sh12 billion against a potential Sh40 billion, meaning it has to depend on exchequer releases and bank loans to pay salaries.