Biometric data audit to rid counties of ghost workers

The Transition Authority (TA) has hired consultancy firm Ernst & Young to conduct a biometric audit of staff in the 47 county governments to weed out ghost workers.

Ernst & Young is undertaking the exercise at a cost of Sh140 million and is expected to hand in a report by end of November.

TA says the audit has been necessitated by the fact that some counties are spending up to 75 per cent of their resources on recurrent vote with salaries taking the largest portion.

Simon Pkuyai, a member of the TA, said that an earlier audit that the agency jointly conducted with the directorate of personnel management had been overtaken by events following the county governments’ uncontrolled hiring of staff.

The Senate has backed the authority’s decision to freeze employment in the counties, saying recruitment should be restricted to filling vacancies.

Mr Pkuyai said the decision to employ a private consultant was taken after several audits, including those of the Auditor-General and the Controller of Budget showed that about 20 per cent of county workers do not exist on the ground.

Governors also suspect that 20 per cent of the staff that the TA and the national government seconded to the counties may be ghost workers.

The TA says that the biometric audit would help reconcile records held with the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, the Directorate of Personnel Management and actual staff on the ground.

“An employee may be reflected in Siaya records as staff when indeed he is physically in Embu as excess staff,” said Dr Abdi Maalim, a member of the authority.

The TA expects the audit to begin next week to enable its completion within the set timeline.

ALSO READ: Counties told to halt staff recruitment

Dr Maalim told the Senate Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Investments chaired by Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale that the audit would include assessment of assets and liabilities, the human resource capacity and use of public funds.

The committee, whose membership includes Anyang Nyongo, John Lonyangapuo, and George Khaniri, said a proper staff audit at both national and county levels would free for development more than Sh2 billion that President Uhuru Kenyatta said was being lost to ghost workers annually.

The committee directed the TA to put in place austerity measures that would ensure proper use of resources to deal with rising complaints over misuse of public resources by Members of County Assemblies (MCAs).

“In one of the counties in the former Western Province, there is an MCA who was paid for up to 15 meetings per day – some lasting less than 30 minutes,” director of audit Elizabeth Nguring’a says in a recent report.

Mr Pkuyai said the TA had received shocking information on an MCA in Wajir who earns Sh1.2 million monthly in mileage allowances.

“One earns Sh650,000 and another Sh1.2 million in mileage claims on grounds that they travel over 600 kilometres from Wajir to their wards. On this, we have agreed that they be arrested and prosecuted,” Mr Pkuyai said.

The money was paid despite the fact that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has a Sh39,528 mileage ceiling computed at Sh109.8 per kilometre for vehicles rated 2,000cc to 3,000cc for fuel and car maintenance.

MCAs whose areas of representation are located more than 45km return journey are allowed to claim extra mileage at rates set by the Automobile Association.

On sitting allowances, SRC has allowed the MCAs to be paid between Sh125,000 and Sh175,000 per month capping sittings to a maximum of eight a week.