As the rescue mission government of Owelle Rochas Okorocha winds up at the end of May 2019, hundreds of government house staff of various cadres have cried out for adequate settlement for the duties they performed in the past years, complaining at the same time that the Governor is angry with them, thus withholding their entitlements on the ground that heis son-inlaw,Uche Nwosu lost election in the government house polling booth during the March 9, 2019 governorship elections.
Some of the workers who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity explained that they have served the Governor in different capacities for eight years, and may end up leaving his employment without anything to show for it.
Some of the workers who seem to be staging a quiet protest indicated their willingness to remain loyal to him till the last day, hopeful that they will be finally compensated for their services to the first family and by extension, the Imo government.
In the same vein, the last batch of selected Transition Committee Chairmen and members have expressed hope that the Governor will ensure the payment or settlement of their severance allowances before he leaves office, as the new administration may not be willing to offset their bills, going by their unlawful imposition as elected officials of the LGAs.
Our source at government house Owerri disclosed that the perplexed staff include those who were drawn from the “Rochas Foundation, Rochas Group of Companies, Lamonde (Rochas) Group of hotels”, where they were initially employed before being drafted into the government house team, as permanent staff on government payroll.
The staff revealed that over the period, they have been getting promises upon promises and now most of them may go home to become paupers. They pleaded with Okorocha to emulate the example of the Governor of Enugu state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who upon winning his party primary election made cash donations to his workers with the least receiving gifts of N1 million, while some got cars in appreciation.
Our source also disclosed that Governor Okorocha’s empty promises date back to 2015, when he was trying his hands at the presidency during which period he told them to keep faith with Uche Nwosu. “In 2018, he reiterated that we should give maximum support to Uche Nwosu with a firm promise that the former Chief of Staff will settle us generously if he wins”, the source stated.
He went on to reveal that, “to date what we hear is the Governor will settle us when he comes back but on his return to the state recently, he expressed anger and bitterness that he lost election in the government house booth, where a senior staff was assigned to superintend”.
Lamenting to our reporter, the staff disclosed that as he was talking to our reporter, he cant boast of about N10,000 in his account and does not know how to go home when they vacate office next month. The workers seem poised for a last minute showdown.
