Woman Reps on the spot over flawed hiring of county coordinators

• It is also emerging that an intern was included in the interview panel
• Background checks for the appointed County Coordinators were not performed

Makueni Woman Representative rejected a candidate recruited by NGAAF managers to coordinate the fund’s activities in the county, it has emerged.

The National Government Affirmative Action Fund board was listing coordinators for the 47 counties.

The woman representative’s preferred candidate emerged second in the interviews.

She wrote to the board and demanded that the fellow be recruited.

A new report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu reveals that the preferred candidate was subsequently appointed as county coordinator.

“This was contrary to the provisions of the Human Resource Policy and Procedure Manual, which states that staffs are recruited on merit after undergoing a recruitment exercise and not based on personal preferences,” Gathungu said.

Makueni is not the only case, as per the report on NGAAF accounts as of June 30, 2023.

Biased hiring practices were also flagged in Homa Bay, Tana River, Nyeri and Isiolo.

These have triggered questions about the regularity of hiring of 45 county coordinators, who were handed a three-year contract effective July 1, last year.

“A scrutiny of the interview and selection report revealed instances of biased hiring practices,” Gathungu said.

In Homa Bay, a contender who was placed second was chosen instead of the best-ranked candidate, without justification on why the top performer was not recommended for appointment, the report reveals.

Similarly in Tana River, candidate two scored 47.8 but was awarded 60.3 marks during the ranking, making him first placed.

He was subsequently appointed.

“Had the anomaly not occurred, the second-ranked applicant who had 56.6 marks would have been top-ranked applicant and therefore appointed instead of the person picked by the selection committee,” the auditor noted.

It is also emerging that an intern was included in the interview panel.

Despite not being appointed as a member of the Interviewing and Selection Committee, the intern participated in the recruitment process as a panelist, awarded scores and signed the score sheets.

“It was also not explained why the intern or junior staff could interview a person for a higher position than the interviewer,” Gathungu said.

She further revealed that management did not conduct interviews for Isiolo county and discarded the interview scoring for Nyeri county, retaining officers from the State Department for Gender serving in the position.

It is also emerging that background checks for the appointed County Coordinators were not performed.

The NGAAF Human Resource Policy and Procedure Manual 2023 states that the Fund shall conduct background checks for candidates to be recruited.

“In the circumstances, Management was in breach of the law and the regularity of the recruitment of County Coordinators, could not be confirmed,” the Auditor General said.

The report of shortlisted candidates was not signed by the shortlisting committee members to confirm the authenticity of the names.

The board did not ratify the appointments.

“No Board meeting minutes were provided for audit review indicating that the shortlist was adopted or ratified by the Board.”

At the same time, no offer of appointment letters were issued to the candidates selected in Nakuru and Wajir counties.

The audit further revealed that no appointment letters or contracts were issued and kept in the candidates’ files.

Gathungu also revealed that there was no documentary evidence indicating that the interview panelists declared whether they had any conflict of interest in the recruitment process as required by the NGAAF HR Policy and Procedure Manual 2023.

“In the absence of the declaration, the integrity of the process may have been compromised,” Gathungu said.

NGAAF's Human Resource Plan was not updated, contrary to the fund’s manual.

She further reported that the CEO did not constitute a Human Resource Management Advisory Committee for the Fund.

“As a result, the recruitment process was in breach of the NGAAF policies,” Gathungu said, while questioning why one member of the panel did not sign the report.

“No justification or dissenting opinion by the member was provided for confirmation,” she said.

No person with disability was handed the jobs despite 27 applying for the same.

Additionally, none of the four who were shortlisted for the interview were appointed; detailing that Homa Bay had a suitable candidate who was not picked.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).