The Kenya Forest Service is facing tough questions over the dismissal of 36 staff members during the financial year ending June 2024, after a government audit exposed flaws in its human resource and legal procedures and revealed that 13 of the affected employees were later reinstated.

The audit by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu revealed that the reinstatements followed a review by KFS’s disciplinary board and the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry, which found that the sackings had not followed the proper process.

The reasons behind the dismissals were not made public.

“Review of the human resource documents provided for audit revealed 36 cases of staff dismissals. Thirteen members of staff were reinstated after the disciplinary committees of the board and the ministry ruled that the dismissal was unprocedural,” said Gathungu.

She pointed to lapses within the KFS human resource and legal departments, stating that “there was no evidence of due diligence by the Service’s human resource and legal departments to determine the legality of some of the dismissals later overturned.”

The audit has sparked concerns over the competence of key departments within the organisation and highlighted growing financial and legal risks due to poor internal controls.

Three of the dismissed employees have already taken the matter to court, raising the possibility of financial penalties against the agency for unfair termination.

The audit also exposed further legal failures, noting that KFS had paid Sh8.17 million in compensation in some cases after failing to attend court to defend itself.

Currently, the agency is entangled in 179 ongoing court cases and spent Sh24 million on legal services in the year under review. The Auditor-General further criticised KFS’s legal team, saying it lacked proper strategies to handle litigation and was exposing the service to more losses.