Webuye municipal council workers strike over 5 months salary

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-07-04 10:13:00 Read 168 Times

Webuye Town Hall. Webuye Council workers are demanding for the sacking of the council treasure over alleged misuse of the council’s money that has made them not receive their dues for the last five months. The council workers union chairman Mr. Joseph Masinde told West Fm that for the past five months since the month of February, the workers had not received their dues. “The council has not paid us our salaries for the past five months, and yet we have needs and responsibilities to attend to, the council in total owes us Sh.10 Million,” said Mr. Masinde. “We need to pay our children’s school fees, buy food to feed our families and invest, we also have a bulk of loans in banks awaiting payment and so without the pay we are left with so many debts,” said Masinde. The workers demanded fro transparency and accountability for the council money, they further demanded for the sacking of the council treasurer, Mr. Richard Nyongesa Ngoni whom they blamed for fraud and misuse of the council’s money. The workers also complained of the frequent travelling by the council officials mostly the mayor and the treasurer to Mombasa and Nairobi using the council’s funding at their expense. “The mayor and other officials are used to frequent travel to the city and Mombasa for no apparent reason something that eats into our money, they are enjoying our hard earned cash while we are left with nothing,” said Masinde. The workers were calmed by the Western Area Local Government Workers Union Secretary, Mr. Juvenalis Orao, who promised the workers that his office will look into their cries and immediately ordered for the dismissal of the council’s treasurer owing to the worker’s demands. “When we arrange for such meetings and the treasurer does not show up, it definitely means he has something to hide, with immediate effect I want him to vacate the treasury office so that the council can appoint a new treasurer who will work towards serving the council worker’s needs,” said Mr.Orao Orao urged the workers to be patient and understanding in the hard times facing the council owing to the fact that the council had not received LATF funding from the government and it didn’t have enough  money. Orao called upon the workers to resume their duties as usual because their demands will be looked into and to cooperate towards enabling the council to sustain itself through active collection of the council tax from the public service vehicles and the market. “You all know that you have to sustain the council through tax collection and that will also go further into the paying of your salaries and therefore we will ensure that the tax collected is well accounted for and it comes back to pay for your salaries,” he said. He also added that all the arrears pending on paying the workers’ salaries will be paid through their hard work and that any penalties paused by the bank on the worker’s with loans should be fined upon the council to pay on behalf of the workers since it’s not their own making to fail to pay. The council budget was read, however, with so much disapproval by the few workers who joined the officials in the municipal council’s hall to listen to it while others remained outside the council offices in protest. The webuye municipal Council total recurrent expenditure Budget as read by the current chairman of Finance Councilor Jafred Makhakha is estimated at Sh.102, 472,779. The council however, has a deficit of Sh. 19,927,067 which Mr.Makhakha stated that was expected to be paid through the realization of unpaid CILLOR by the local government, unpaid property rates and improved Bus Park collections. He also appealed to the Government to pay the council contribution in lieu of rates which is over Sh.11, 000,000. Despite the lack of funds, the council had set financial projects for the financial year 2011/2012, of constructing a classroom at Nzoia Primary, Nzoia PEFA School, Matulo RC primary school and river pump plot, construction of village polytechnic at Fly over, construction of satellite water spring, market shades at Kaburengu and many more.