The government plans to roll out a new integrated payroll system across all ministries, agencies, and county assemblies starting in August, in a move aimed at eliminating ghost workers and ending duplicate payrolls.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the system will be the sole platform for paying public servants, and will help address long-standing payroll issues, especially in county governments.

“It will cure the problem of ghost workers in our system. It will also eliminate multiple payrolls and end the illegal practice of withholding part of employees’ salaries under the guise of statutory deductions or Sacco contributions. This amounts to borrowing from employees without consent,” said Mbadi.

He accused county governments of being the worst offenders in running parallel payrolls, and warned that excuses for non-compliance would not be tolerated.

Mbadi made the remarks on Wednesday, July 30, during a meeting with Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Chairperson David Oginde to discuss ongoing reforms and anti-corruption strategies.

Oginde highlighted the need for cross-sector collaboration in the fight against corruption.

“Unless we do something, corruption will continue and deplete taxpayer resources. We are committed to fighting this, but it requires collaboration from different sectors,” he said.

CS Mbadi also emphasised the importance of accountability, adding that the government is looking into broader reforms to safeguard public funds.

Among the planned changes are the elimination of cash-based transactions through adoption of the Electronic Government Procurement (EGP) system and the implementation of a Treasury Single Account to track state funds.

“At some point, we don’t even know what we have in terms of cash balance in our accounts. Sometimes we even borrow our own money without knowing.”

The EACC further called for increased resource allocation to effectively carry out its mandate.