Civil servants face headcount after audit flags Sh6.2bn in payroll irregularities
Workers who miss the physical verification risk having their salaries stopped.
Based on reporting by Kenyans.co.ke.
The Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi. File photo, 2025. Photo: Clinton Nyabuto / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
The government has started a physical headcount of civil servants after a payroll audit found suspected irregularities worth Sh6.2 billion in 12 of 53 state departments.
The Ministry of Education is among the first to order the exercise. An internal memo dated 16 October tells heads of directorates to make sure every employee is physically accounted for this week, at Jogoo House in Nairobi on 19, 21 and 22 October.
All staff on the payroll must take part, including those on leave or in hospital. They must bring their KRA PIN, original ID card and their first and current appointment letters. Those who do not take part risk having their salaries stopped.
In June the Cabinet ordered the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to look into suspected payroll fraud across government. Preliminary findings reportedly show salaries paid to ghost workers and people who could not have been employed. Eighty-four human resource managers linked to the Ministry of Health, the Prisons Service and the Police Service were asked to step aside while the investigation continues.
The investigation is continuing, and the audit findings are not proof of wrongdoing by any individual.
