At least 10 new governors have moved to weed out ghost workers from their payrolls with some saying they will  hire audit firms to conduct forensic audits of staff.

The review, they say, is meant to save millions of shillings paid to non-existent employees.

Samburu Governor Lati Lelelit says he will engage either KMPG or Deloitte audit firms to audit its human resource personnel and streamline the workforce.

This is after a report by the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o revealed that the devolved unit is increasingly spending more of its allocations on salaries, allowances and other employee benefits.

The report released recently shows that the amount the ex-governor Samuel Lenolkulal’s administration spent, in the first nine months of the 2021/22 financial year, on salaries and other personnel emoluments was almost thrice what was spent on development.

It further shows that Samburu spent a whopping Sh1.7 billion on recurrent expenditure in the period, while using only Sh604.05 million for development.

“The wage bill of Sh1.77 billion includes Sh656.64 million attributable to the health sector, which translates to 37.1 per cent of the total wage bill in the reporting period,” the report says.

Save billions

Nyakang’o also faulted Lenolkulal’s administration for processing Sh255 million worth of salaries manually, contrary to the law. The manual payroll amounted to 15.9 per cent of the total personal emoluments, according to the report.

Lelelit says the intended human resource audit will help streamline the workforce as well as save billions of shillings being spent on the wage bill.

“Once the report is done, we will make it public so that no one says he is being victimised on account of his political persuasion,” he said.

In Taita-Taveta, Governor Andrew Mwadime has established an audit team to investigate what he says is  illegal recruitment and promotions of workers.

Mwadime says the audit will help reduce the wage bill that stands at 42.4 per cent of the annual budget.

Apart from examining the authenticity of workers on the payroll, the audit will establish their qualifications and suitability to serve in certain positions after it emerged some workers might be holding positions they are not qualified for.

“We will also investigate workers who have been employed without due process and look at matters of those who were sacked un-procedurally,” the governor said.

Suspect hiring

In Bungoma, Governor Kenneth Lusaka has also ordered an audit to be conducted on the county workforce.

“Bungoma residents deserve to know if indeed they are getting value for their money,” Lusaka said during a press briefing at the Bumula Sub-County Hospital after paying a visit to the facility.

The governor also alleged that there was mass employment of casual workers towards the end of the campaign period, describing the hiring as suspicious.

“All we are doing is to verify that everyone that was absorbed as a casual worker was qualified and that correct procedures were followed,” he said.

In Homa Bay, Governor Gladys Wanga has sent human resource officers on compulsory leave to allow an audit  on human resources and payroll systems.

She said the move, which was made on Thursday, was driven by claims of irregularities in recruitment.

“The mentioned officers have been ordered not to access their offices or any county government records. They are also barred from undertaking any financial transactions on behalf of the county government,” read a press statement by the Governor.

Wanga urged residents to support her reform initiatives in order to get the county back on track and improve service delivery.

“Only qualified personnel will be hired for the available jobs,” Wanga added.

In West Pokot, Governor Simon Kachapin, who made a comeback after losing the seat in 2017, attributed the county’s huge wage bill to unregulated recruitment.

Promotions

Kachapin has established an audit team comprising all head departments to weed out ghost workers as well as unqualified personnel.

“If our audit reveals that there are people drawing salaries from the public coffers without rendering any service, we shall not hesitate to surcharge them,” Kachapin said

He blamed his predecessor John Lonyangapuo of massive hiring. He claimed that when he left office in 2017, there were around 600 casual workers but the figure had tripled in five years.

The Governor promised to deal with unfair promotions noting that some workers whom he left had stagnated in the same position for long while those who were recruited later had been promoted.

“I will serve every employee equally without victimization irrespective of your political stand as long as you do your work professionally,” he said.