Nairobi — The Mombasa Municipal Council workforce has dropped by more than 2,000 following an eight-year employment freeze, the mayor said on Wednesday.

Mr Ahmed Mohdhar said since the government slapped an employment embargo, the council employees have dropped to 2,650 from 5,000 eight years ago.

The mayor noted that some workers have over the years gone on retire, others died while the rest opted out for greener pastures.

Last week, Town Clerk Tubmun Otieno kicked off a head count exercise for the council employees aimed at getting the exact number of workers in the wake of ghost workers' claims.

Mr Otieno said after the conclusion of the head count, the council will decide whether to seek approval from the Ministry of Local Government on the need to employ more workers.

But Mr Mohdhar argued that the civic body requires more employees since the town has grown rapidly over the years with the population estimated at more than 900,000.

"There is need for the Ministry of Local Government to lift the freeze on employment of new workers since the council workforce has nose-dived to 2,650 whereas the tasks are enormous," the mayor said.

"It will be unrealistic for the government to maintain its hard stance yet the workers we have cannot cope with the challenges of delivering service to the public," he added.

"We have tried to push for the lift of the embargo without success. The council currently should have 7,000 workers."

He said for the council to serve the public better the local authority requires more than 4,000 new workers.

Some local lobby groups, however, are opposed to the council's quest for the lifting of the embargo, saying the current workforce payroll cost the civic body more than 40 per cent of its Sh2 billion annual budget.

The government froze employment of new workers since the council was struggling to pay its bloated workforce.

Council workers had to work for between four to six months without pay as the local authority was in the red.