Governor George Natembeya of Trans-Nzoia County, has defended his decision to suspend operations and closure of the county’s Public Service Board (PSB) offices.
In a circular dated Monday, February 16, George Natembeya announced the suspension of activities at the Public Service Board office, citing alleged rogue conduct by board members whose term was scheduled to expire on February 28. He indicated that operations at the office would resume on March 2.
Speaking during an interview at his office on Tuesday evening, Natembeya said the board members had gone against their agreement regarding their continued stay in office.
“Terminal leave is within the law. If your employer has asked you to proceed, unless overturned by court, one cannot object. I have heard they sat down and said they are not going. Our initial agreement had elapsed and they had accumulated 45 more days, which we were unable to convert into cash,” Natembeya clarified.
The Board was notified of proceeding to terminal leave on January 26, according to tye governor’s circular but the office remained into operation and continued with functions he termed illegal.
Why Natembeya Suspended the Board’s activities
According to Natembeya, the PSB failed to internally agree on his intent to employ chief officers, whose tenure are coming to an end, and unilaterally cancelled the advert without consultation with the executive.
“We had shared with them our intention to employer new chief officers. We agreed on 45 days to proceed with the recruitment, but under their request it was extended to 90 days and later realized that they had cancelled the advert, following their internal differences. There is no record of the board secretary cancelling the advert. How do you cancel an advert without consulting the person who tasked you?” Natembeya questioned.
He faulted the team for conducts he termed could plunge the county into instability amd allegations if nepotism, as the officers promoted their close allies within a year, and move that could later taint his government before the Senate for irregular employment.
“Ideally you cannot do serious transactions while nearing retirement! Once you are proceeding to leave. You have to restrain yourself to avoid jeopardising the people that will come after you. We saw that they are going to bring instability within the county and the PSB. This leaving the burden to answer on ethnicity imbalance of employment within the county before the Senate,” he further said.
He added that the decision was done in good faith and in accordance with the procedures, as the positions and been placed in by his predecessor and he cannot prematurely terminate their terms.
“We work with procedures, we do not want to limit the opportunities of the people of Trans Nzia by bringing in people from other counties. I restrained myself from conflicting with the Board. I regret that we have to part away in such a manner, but the law is the law. They can still go to court, but they have less than 11 days. We also received a lot of complains from our staff that led us to settle on this decision to let them go,” Natembeya added.
His move has since received critism within members, Natembeya noting that the county operates within the laws, and the members can only return to office once they have been given a court order.
Several counties within the country have had conflicts with their employment boards with new governors taking office, claiming allegations of the board frustrating and limiting their capacities to conduct their administrative duties.
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