A new report has revealed that there are over 17,000 “ghost workers” in the civil service who are taking money from taxpayers. These ghost workers are people who do not actually exist but are still listed on the payrolls of many government agencies.
Some of the main offenders include the State House, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), and Kenya Railways.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) pointed out that there are 17,000 more names on the staff list than there are actual employees working in authorized positions.
This report comes after similar alarming findings showed that ghost workers are costing county governments a lot of money. For example, in 2023, it was found that Kisii County had 1,314 ghost workers, while West Pokot had 2,300, and Kiambu had 2,299. The report also found that Kenya Railways had 1,261 ghost workers on its payroll, even though they didn’t show up for work.
The PSC’s review showed that while Kenya Railways reported having 3,287 employees, only 2,026 were actually working there.
The KBC had 231 staff members listed who did not hold any positions, yet they still received salaries. State House had 156 ghost workers, with a discrepancy of 156 between the reported staff and the actual count.
To summarize the new report by PSC reveals that Kenya has over 17,000 ghost workers in the civil service, benefitting from taxpayers’ money.
Ministries: 12,329
State House: 156
State corporations: 2,486
Public universities: 1,885
Commissions and independent offices: 225
Statutory authorities: 75
KBC: 231
Department of Investment: 26
Council of Governors: 26
Blue Economy Department: 97
Commodities Fund: 57
National Housing Corporation: 15
According to the PSC’s latest findings in the 2024 compliance report, government ministries had the most discrepancies, with 12,329 extra staff. State corporations had an additional 2,486, public universities had 1,885, commissions and independent offices had 225, and statutory authorities had 75.
The PSC has asked these agencies to explain why their employee counts don’t match up. They want institutions with differences in their employee numbers to clarify the situation.
In the review, 67 institutions, including State House and Kenya Railways, had 2,326 extra staff members. Another 103 institutions had 3,354 more workers listed than those actually working. However, some 136 institutions had no discrepancies, which is the ideal situation.
Several universities were found with untraceable staff. For example, Meru University had 75, Kirinyaga University had 21, and the University of Nairobi had 27 ghost workers.
Other departments also had unexplained staff, including the Council of Governors with 26, the Blue Economy department with 97, and the Commodities Fund with 57.
Margaret Nyakang’o, the Controller of the Budget, has warned several times about the risk of ghost workers receiving unauthorized salaries. A recent review showed that county governments paid more than 2 billion shillings to staff using hand-written payrolls in just three months.
Last year, a meeting urged counties and ministries to switch to electronic payrolls. All government agencies are being asked to stop using outdated payroll systems.
Despite efforts to fix the problem, some departments still paid 340 workers who were not officially on the payroll, 416 at public universities, and 1,085 at state corporations. Government agencies were given until June 30 to transition to a new payroll system designed to handle salaries properly.
Ghost workers cost taxpayers a lot of money and make it unclear who is actually doing work. The review showed that while some agencies had too many staff, others were short-staffed.
Overall, 168 institutions had more employees than allowed, while 335 were understaffed. The department with the most excess workers was the State Department for Immigration, which had 4,028 extra staff.
Rongo University had 417 more than needed, followed by Kemsa with 231. Other departments, such as Water and Energy, also had excess workers.