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Sometime in May, Governor Johnson Sakaja was grilled on the qualifications of some employees at City Hall.
Sakaja, who appeared before the Senate’s County Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang, was accompanied by Chief Officer for Disaster Management Bramwel Simiyu.
The duo was taken to task to explain whether some officers who work at the fire department in the Nairobi County Disaster Management Unit have the requisite qualifications.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna revealed that two employees had degrees in theology and quizzed Sakaja and Simiyu on whether they were suited to hold their positions.
“We are doing this because we intend to help you to reallocate these resources in a manner that will be most efficient for the people of Nairobi,” Sifuna said.
Sifuna also raised questions about two other fire fighters said to hold degrees in Library Studies and Tours and Travels, respectively.
“There is a mismatch of skills in your department. We bring this up not because we have anything against you or against these officers. They could be useful in other departments,” he added.
But Simiyu defended the employees, stating that they hold junior positions far from the policy-making level.
“Those are people who were recently employed and in junior positions. The guys we have at the top are qualified and experienced, some with master’s in disaster management and investigations.”
“It is unfortunate that the senators wanted to bring an image that people we have are unqualified. Like the police, people in fire departments are recruited with different qualifications and taken through paramilitary training,” he added.
On why the staff hold degrees in theology, Simiyu explained that firefighters go through a lot of traumatic experiences and sometimes need to be encouraged.
“We operate like the military which has a chaplain. At the same time, we need librarians because we deal with data and must have systems aligned with disaster management applications, thus everyone is important,” he said.
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