Nakuru County Government has launched biometric registration of its employees to get rid of ghost workers and entrench efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery.

Governor Susan Kihika, yesterday, however, assured that the exercise, which will verify staff on payroll and their qualifications, was not meant to victimise anyone but ensure that all public servants were accounted for. She said with the biometric registration, the county would be able to put to rest the issue of ghost workers and enhance efficiency in public resources management.

“This will not only give us a good picture of the capabilities we have in our service, but also provide us data on how we can better deploy these capabilities,” Kihika explained.

Acquired data

Governor explained that the acquired data would be used to build a digital registry that would enhance transparency in all human resource management processes, including promotion, deployment and accountability.

A biometric staff audit conducted by Price-Waterhouse Coopers between May 28 and June 16, 2018 revealed that the Nakuru County Government paid an average of Sh1.13 million annually to ghost workers.

Audit report further revealed that 23 employees were not accounted for but were still retained in the payroll, taking home salaries and benefits. The report also indicated that 136 workers in the payroll were missing from the biometric register.

Audit revealed that during the now-defunct municipal system, positions of irrelevant employees including rat catchers were created, contributing to the ever-blotting wage bill.

While observing that the registration exercise would enable strategic planning and budgeting for human resource development, including recruitment, training, and succession management, the governor directed that every staff member appears in person for the registration, having filled the biometric registration form prior to the exercise.

Governor at the same time called on all employees to cooperate and participate in the registration exercise to expedite its completion, adding that it is in their best interest to get registered lest they are counted as ghost workers.

Exercise will be rolled out across all the 11 sub-counties.