According to the circular, the deactivation of 4,149 employees from the public service payroll includes 2,967 employees who failed to attend the second round of the validation exercise, 15 employees suspected to be ghost workers, 557 employees who continued to receive salaries after retirement or resignation, 368 employees confirmed to have absconded but remained on the payroll, and 242 deceased officers whose records were still active after their deaths.
Catherine Bitarakwate. Photo by Ministry of Public Service
In
an ongoing effort to streamline the public service payroll, the Ministry of
Public Service has deactivated 4,149 employees across various ministries,
entities and local governments.
Catherine
Bitarakwate Musingwiire, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Public Service said
that this action follows a second round of validation and headcount exercises
conducted from March 11 to June 28, 2024, as recommended by the Office of the
Auditor General.
"The
validation report was submitted to Cabinet, and under Minute No. 347 (CT 2024),
a Sub-Committee was appointed to refine the Ministry's recommendations and
provide feedback within two weeks. On January 9, 2025, the Committee convened
and directed the deactivation of the identified records from the payroll,"
Bitarakwate said.
According
to the circular, the deactivation of 4,149 employees from the public service
payroll includes 2,967 employees who failed to attend the second round of the
validation exercise, 15 employees suspected to be ghost workers, 557 employees
who continued to receive salaries after retirement or resignation, 368
employees confirmed to have absconded but remained on the payroll, and 242
deceased officers whose records were still active after their deaths.
From
the analysis, it is estimated that gov’t will be saving a total of 2.51 billion
shillings monthly from this payroll cleanup. Employees who missed the
validation exercise accounted for 1.5 billion shillings, suspected ghost
workers cost 9.2 million shillings, retired or resigned employees drew 538.3
million shillings, absconders 291.8 million shillings, and deceased officers
account for 215.6 million shillings.
These
savings underscore the financial burden of maintaining an inaccurate payroll
system and highlight the importance of this cleanup initiative.
Bitarakwate
stated that all individuals in the aforementioned categories have been removed
from the January 2025 payroll. She advised accounting officers to recommend any
deactivated records eligible for reactivation to report to the Ministry of
Public Service with a clearance letter personally signed by the responsible
officer.
She
emphasized that the clearance letter must be individual and not shared,
accompanied by original academic and professional documents, original
appointment and confirmation letters, original National Identity Card and
employer Identity Card, pay slips for December 2024 and January 2025, as well
as certified minutes of appointment.
“...(The
clearance letter should be personal and not shared), original academic and professional
documents, original appointment and confirmation letters, original National Identity
Card and employer Identity Card, pay slip for December 2024 and January 2025 as
well as certified Minutes of appointment,” she added.
She
further noted that the opportunity for further validation would only be
available from January 20 to February 7, 2025.
In
earlier reports from July last year, the Ministry of Public Service had listed
over 7,000 employees for removal from the payroll after failing to meet the
requirements set by the Auditor General.
However, Bitarakwate noted that some
of these cases were to be investigated further and reinstated if necessary,
leading to the adjustments reflected in the latest review.