Government advices civil servants to take side hustles amid salary delays
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Government advices civil servants to cinsider taking up side hustles to supplent their incomes amid salary delays
Government advices civil servants to cinsider taking up side hustles to supplent their incomes amid salary delays.
On Sunday, April 16, Kipchumba Murkomen, the cabinet secretary for transport, encouraged employees to consider taking up side hustles.
He specifically supported the notion of government personnel working as taxi drivers on the side to boost their income.
Murkomen stated this in response to a concern that government employees were being forced to exploit other ventures due to salary delays.
“There’s a lady civil servant forced to engage in the taxi cab business as a side hustle to supplement her income, since civil servant’s salaries started coming late.
“She leaves work at 5 pm, switches on mobile taxi apps, and only returns home after she has hit the 5,000 daily target,” popular newspaper columnist Gabriel Oguda wrote.
In reply, Murkomen who heads the transport sector noted that this was a welcome move to the industry.
“This is very good news for our transport sector especially if you consider the challenges we have been facing in the ride-hailing sector, especially among the drivers,” he replied.
In an earlier statement made on Sunday, April 9, Murkomen had revealed that the government was unable to pay its employees.
He though absolved Kenya Kwanza over any fault for the delayed salary piling blame on the former administration.
“I have seen that there is a national discourse about the country being broke.
“That is not true, the Ruto-led government has money but is using all of it to pay debts,” the former Elgeyo Marakwet senator explained why the government was unable to pay its employees.
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His sentiments were supported by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who further accused the former administration of plunder.
“It is true we are having challenges in paying salaries and giving money to governors because the handshake government ruined this economy,” the DP stated on Sunday, April 9.
Kenya is confronting a financial crisis the has seen salaries of civil servants delayed, with some unions, including health workers threatening to call for a work boycott.
The statement from CS Murkomen on public servants is in contrary to the resolutions of the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, February 28.
The Cabinet back then approved the Conflict of Interest Bill, 2023, barring public servants from doing private business.
“The proposed law will herald a new dawn in the management of public affairs by introducing strong legal safeguards against real, apparent, or potential conflict between the private interests of public servants on one hand and the public interest and their official duties on the other,” the resolution read in part.
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