Cabinet approves reforms to dismantle deeply entrenched and decades-long payroll fraud

The Cabinet approved sweeping reforms to dismantle deeply entrenched and decades-long payroll fraud in Government, restore integrity to the public wage bill and safeguard taxpayers’ money through a whole-of-government payroll clean up.

The decision follows a comprehensive Government payroll audit that uncovered widespread weaknesses in payroll governance.

A sample audit of 12 of the 53 State Departments revealed suspected payroll irregularities amounting to Sh6.2 billion, exposing unauthorised alterations to payroll records, irregular payments, weak controls over statutory deductions, and fragmented payroll management and major oversight gaps.

Consequently, Cabinet chaired by president William Ruto directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to investigate payroll fraud, verify personal numbers used in payroll processing, dismantle criminal networks manipulating Government payroll systems, recover lost public funds, and ensure the immediate arrest and prosecution of all persons found culpable.

The meeting also ordered the immediate implementation of a comprehensive payroll reform programme, including a Government-wide audit of all remaining State Departments and public institutions,
mandatory migration of all Ministries, Departments, Agencies and State Corporations onto the newly revamped Integrated Human Resource and Payroll System, enhanced cybersecurity, payroll data cleansing and validation, establishment of a disaster recovery site, and integration of payroll with other public financial management systems.

The Cabinet also froze the leasing or hiring of additional office space pending an audit of Government office space and utilisation while developing a comprehensive programme to renovate public offices and make them more efficient and fit for service delivery.