Kenya to remove ghost workers from payroll

The Kenyan government Friday said it will remove all ghost workers from its payroll in November.

Ministry of Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Ann Waiguru told a media briefing in Nairobi that the ongoing biometric registration exercise has so far captured 90 percent of all public servants, Xinhua reported.

"We have clearly indicated that those employees who fail to present themselves for the exercise without justifiable cause will be deemed as ghost workers and subsequently will be removed from the payroll," Waiguru said.

She said that national government payroll stands at approximately 175,000 but only 165,000 have been registered so far. However, those on sick or study leave have been exempted from the current registration drive as their data has already been captured.

The East African nation launched the biometric data capture for national government employees Sep 1 as part of the Joint Capacity Assessment and Rationalisation of the Public Service (CARPS) Programme. The county governments launched the exercise Sep 22 which is scheduled to end Oct 31.

Waiguru said the biometric system captures finger prints, signatures and iris, and will therefore eliminate ghost workers when fully implemented.

CARPS is meant to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery to the citizens and is not meant to victimize any public servant, she added.