Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has ordered 84 human resource officers to take mandatory 30-day leave and revoked their access to payroll systems following investigations into suspected irregular transactions in government payrolls.
In a statement on October 16, CS Ruku said the directive follows ongoing investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) that uncovered suspected irregularities in the payroll systems of the Ministry of Health, Kenya Police Service, and Kenya Prisons Service.
The CS said the measures would allow further forensic investigations into transactions that may have resulted in the loss of public funds.
“I have directed the revocation of payroll system user rights of 84 human resources officers and the implementation of mandatory 30-day leave to allow further forensic investigations of the identified irregular transactions that have potentially led to loss of public funds,” read part of the statement.
CS Ruku Orders Replacement of 84 HR Officers as Payroll Investigations Intensify
Additionally, Ruku also directed the Ministry of Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes, through the State Department for Public Service and Human Capital Development, to immediately deploy new human resource officers to take over payroll management in the affected institutions.
The replacement officers will manage the systems as investigations continue, paving the way for further action against those found culpable.
Ruku said public officers had a constitutional obligation to manage public resources prudently and would be held accountable for actions or omissions that lead to the loss of government funds.
The investigations are expected to establish the nature and extent of the suspected irregular transactions and determine whether any officers bear responsibility.
Also Read: Ruku Exposes Loopholes Used by Officers to Defraud the Govt in KSh 6B Payroll Heist
Government Agencies to Adopt Tamper-Proof Payroll System
The crackdown followed an earlier directive by Ruku requiring all government institutions to migrate their human resource management operations to a centralised, tamper-proof Human Resource System (HRS) within two months to combat payroll fraud and eliminate ghost workers.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of the 12th Annual National Human Resource Management Congress in Mombasa on May 29, Ruku warned that institutions that failed to comply risked having their employees’ salaries and allowances withheld.
The CS said the directive followed a government audit ordered by President William Ruto that uncovered payroll irregularities, unauthorised salary payments and mismanagement of public funds across several state institutions.
According to Ruku, the audit revealed cases in which interdicted police officers continued receiving salaries, with some payments allegedly channelled to fictitious bank accounts. He attributed the irregularities to weaknesses in existing payroll and human resource management systems.
Also Read: Govt to Automate Employees’ Pension Contributions Through New Payroll System
“All Human Resource management functions must now be managed from one integrated system that is secure, verifiable and impossible to manipulate,” said CS Ruku.
Ruku also directed human resource officers to verify every employee listed on government payrolls through proper documentation, biometric registration and clearly assigned duties.
He said regular staff headcounts and continuous biometric verification would help close loopholes that had enabled ghost workers and fraudulent salary payments to persist in the public service.
The CS further urged public institutions to adopt integrated payroll systems that can detect anomalies in real time and flag suspicious transactions before public funds are lost.
He raised concerns over duplicate employee records across multiple stations, irregular allowance payments and unauthorised salary processing, warning that the practices inflated the public wage bill and undermined service delivery.
Ruku cautioned that failure to strengthen payroll management systems could erode public confidence in government operations and divert funds from development projects and essential public services.
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