The Nyamira County Government, led by Governor Amos Nyaribo, faced intense scrutiny from the Senate Committee on Labour and Social Welfare following reports of irregular employment and inflated wage bill ratios far exceeding statutory limits.

The probe was triggered by Sen. Okongo Mogeni’s (Nyamira) remarks on the floor of the Senate, where he highlighted the County Government’s overspending on personnel emoluments. The Controller of Budget’s (CoB) report for the 2023/24 Financial Year indicated that the county’s wage bill stood at 55.2% of total revenue.

However, Governor Nyaribo contested the report, asserting that the county’s wage bill was 47% of revenue as of July 2024.

“From the revenue of Ksh. 7.2 billion indicated in our response, the estimated allocation from National Government is Ksh. 5.33 billion, Own Source Revenue is Ksh. 369 million. The balance is conditional grants,” the Governor explained during his appearance before the committee, chaired by Sen. George Mbugua.

His explanation failed to convince members of the committee. Sen. Mogeni sharply criticised the county’s accounting practices, particularly its inclusion of conditional grants in revenue calculations. 

“That’s where you get it wrong. The Controller of Budget is telling you in her report, that you cannot take conditional grants and include them into your revenue accounts. She has analysed your revenue without any bias,” Sen. Mogeni argued.

Sen. Gloria Orwoba echoed similar concerns, stressing that regardless of the figures presented by the county, they were in clear violation of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, which caps the wage bill at 35% of total revenue. 

“Whether the wage bill to total revenue ratio is 47 or 55 %, they are still way above the maximum allowable percentage of 35,” Sen. Orwoba pointed out.

Further complicating matters was the revelation of the Nyamira County had employed 255 new staff members in 2023, described as "critical staff." Sen. Mohammed Faki (Mombasa) called on the county to provide detailed documentation, including the names and positions of these employees, the advertisements for the roles and subsequent reports of the entire recruitment process.

In response to the inflated wage bill, Nyamira County officials attributed the surge to various factors, including housing levy deductions, salary adjustments for healthcare workers and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) reviews. County Secretary Dr. Jack Magara further revealed that a verification process of employee qualifications had uncovered 103 staff members with fake certificates, with the potential to save Kshs 69 million annually once the dismissal process is completed.

Senators Justice (Rtd) Stewart Mazdayo and Alexander Mundigi proposed giving the county additional time to rectify its financial records before being invited again.

The committee also raised concerns over several other employment-related issues, including the placement and pay grades of ECDE teachers, unremitted pensions and the payment of community health promoters.