How government loses billions in fake salaries

By Frank Aman

  Last month it saved Sh40 billion

Deputy Minister for Finance Mwigulu Nchemba

Despite perennial claims of having insufficient budget funds leading to failure of development projects, the government has been losing over Sh40 billion monthly in salaries to ghost workers for years, a deputy minister has affirmed.


This was said by Deputy Minister for Finance Mwigulu Nchemba, who briefed reporters on the issue yesterday, saying that the extent of losses in such payments came to light after the Treasury introduced an e-salary payroll system. That is when it was noticed that there were over 14,000 ghost workers fitted in the service portfolio.

To end the ghost worker syndrome, salaries will be channeled directly to public servants’ accounts from the Treasury instead of disbursing cheques to the relevant government ministries responsible for paying their employees.

Nchemba said after the adoption of the system last month they observed that a large number of ghost workers were continuing to get salaries from the government despite their being non-existent.

“We directed all district and regional councils to list details of civil servants so that their salaries can be directly posted to their personal bank accounts. This is aimed at ending the ghost workers syndrome in the country,” he said.

This procedure involves shifting from the previous system where salaries were posted to the relevant government ministries to pay its workers where it transpired that a number of them never existed.

Despite containing the ghost workers problem, the new system will also ensure that only deserved workers are paid their salaries and the government stops losing taxpayers’ money to a few crooks, he declared.

“We shall take stern measures on those responsible with forging and stealing government funds. This procedure is just an early step in a broad-based revolution at the ministry,” he further asserted.

Media reports claiming that a big number of ghost workers exist only as names listed in employees’ registers and on payrolls indicate that such names were found to be high in education, health and judicial sectors where officials use the names to enhance their pay by millions of shillings annually.

Three years ago, President Jakaya Kikwete ordered an audit to be conducted in all government departments after reports were released by the Controller and Auditor General indicating that Sh9 billion in salaries had been paid to ghost workers in just three ministries.

The president directed that administrative action be taken against officials who sanctioned the payment of salaries to ghost workers and place such officials before the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau for legal action against them.