Civil Servants within Busia County have been urged to make use of the government initiated car loan and the new pension schemes.
Speaking during a sensitization forum at a hotel in Busia town, area County Commissioner John Korir said that the two schemes are aimed at making the public service more attractive to officers by giving them areas where they can be cushioned as they deliver best services.
“The issue of car loan is something that has been debated for so many years and I’m glad that this particular time it is being implemented,” he said.
Korir thanked the government for steering the public service which is highly motivated, adding that the move will improve service delivery.
“The government plans to make public service even more attractive,” he said, adding that some employees have moved to government from other statutory bodies because of the new scheme in public service.
He reiterated that the government is the best employer because it cares a lot about its officers.
The official attributed the low uptake of the scheme to lack of information among the intended beneficiaries.
“I think there was that aspect of the fear of the unknown and now that the National Treasury has decided to sensitize the intended beneficiaries, the uptake is likely to increase,” he said.
A presentation by officers from the National Treasury revealed that only Sh107 million out of Sh3.8 billion from the car loan kitty has been disbursed to beneficiaries to date.
But participants at the forum attributed the low uptake of the scheme to what they term as the many restrictive conditions for the fund.
They pointed out that most civil servants lie within the lower cadre, hence the need to extend the repayment period to beyond 5 years.
The car loan scheme was established in 2015 but its implementation commenced five years later due to lack of guidelines.
by Salome Alwanda