By Antynet Ford.
The menace of ghost workers and loopholes in the Nairobi City County government payroll is still a thorn in the flesh.
This was revealed by Ngei Member of County Assembly Redson Otieno during a request of a statement from the Sectoral Committee on Labour and Social Welfare inquiring to know the exact number of staff employed since the Sakaja-led administration took over in 2022 and those who have since retired or died if their names are still in the payroll system.
The legislator inquired to know whether the county-integrated payroll and personnel database is up to date and whether the pension remittance of all the employees is updated.
“There is need for the county to account for its workforce and ensure quality service delivery to Nairobians. Since the commencement of the current executive, several employments have been made and some officers have also retired or died. The Labor Committee should inquire and report whether the retired and dead employees have been removed from the integrated payroll and personnel database the number of those employed and those who have retired or died; whether the retired officers have been paid their pension and if the county executive has updated the pension remittance of all the employees.” Redson said in his statement.
This comes months after the auditor general report for 2022/23 revealed that the menace of ghost workers is still there indicating shared bank accounts, leading to duplicated salary and allowance payments.
Gathungu reported that Nairobi County incurred losses of Sh15.42 million due to such duplications, with over Sh100 million paid out for unverifiable allowances.
The AG revealed that four employees were active on the payroll without pay.
Further, the county lost Sh15.42 million paid twice to some 178 county officers as allowances.
The county also paid more than Sh100 million to 459 employees for allowances that could not be determined in what could have led to loss of public money.
In November 2022, Sakaja had promised to clear the ghost worker menace by introducing a biometric system at City Hall to identify legal county workers but it is yet to be in place.
The issue of elderly and ghost workers has been haunting City Hall for a long time.
Umoja 1 MCA Mark Mugambi moved a motion which was passed urging that for the county to deliver on its mandate, it requires energetic people, who are also conversant with technology but it is yet to be implemented.
Mugambi said 60 per cent of the city hall workforce estimated at 14,000, is between 50-60 years old. He also said that about 651 officers would be retiring.
The legislator who is also the minority whip claimed that about 25 per cent of county staff have been slowed down by ill health and alcohol addiction.
Early this year, the County government worker downed their tools in protest of the non-remittance of pension funds to Laptrust and Lapfund and the unlawful removal of the retirees from the payroll while the Employment Act provides for the retention of employees in the payroll on temporary terms to await the processing of terminal dues.
As of today, the Kenya County Government Workers Union (KCGWU), Nairobi Branch Secretary General Festus Ngari today revealed that the amount owed to Local Authorities Provident Fund (LAPFUND) by the county was overpaid while that owed to LAPTRUST has never been paid.
The Corporate Watch contacted Governor Sakaja through messages and calls to know the steps he is taking to solve the menace but at the time of going to the press, he had not replied.
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