Expiry of non-established posts stirs panic in councils
Panic and confusion have engulfed district councils nationwide following an announcement by Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development that authority for non-established posts in councils expires on December 31 2016.
According to a letter dated December 21 2016 from the ministry’s Principal Secretary (PS) Stuart Ligomeka to all district commissioners (DCs) which The Nation has seen, the implication of the expiry of authority of the non-established posts is that there will be no money to pay for the services rendered by office bearers after the deadline.
reporting for duties
Reads in part the letter: “I would like to report that Lascom [Local Government Service Commission] conducted interviews in order to provide opportunity for non-established officers to fill established posts. However, some officers were not successful. The implication of conducting interviews is that those who failed cannot fill established posts.
“In this regard, I would like to request your office to advise the officers, who were not successful during Lascom interviews that they should stop reporting for duties with effect from 1st January 2017.
“Your office is requested to submit to this ministry the employment documents for the concerned officers for further decisions.”
The non-established posts, according to information The Nation has gathered, include key positions such as district trade officer, district internal auditors, accountants, monitoring and evaluation officers and district works and building officers.
And a source who confided in The Nation said most of the officers were not called for the interviews and that even those called none has been informed about the outcome.
However, an officer from one of the district councils said non-established posts are handled the same way as contracts or attachments and that they have their specified and agreed running periods.
In this regard, the officer said such termination of contracts should not be treated the same way as government treats termination of employment for officers on established posts. n
