935 ghost workers point to high-level graft, says Wambua

He made the remark in the wake of revelations of 935 ghost workers in the Kitui government payroll. 

Wambua said the ghost workers point to high-level corruption in the county. 

"This extent of corruption is intolerable. It must be fought by every well-meaning resident of Kitui county. Those responsible for this blatant theft must face the full force of the law," he said.

"The money I fight so hard, with the help of my colleagues through the annual County Allocation of Revenue Bill in the Senate, to be allocated to Kitui can't just disappear into peoples’ pockets and the intended beneficiaries are left to suffer in absolute poverty." 

The Senate deputy minority leader made the remarks during his inaugural address to the third Kitui county assembly on Wednesday.

Wambua was in the company of senators Esther Okenyuri, Beth Syengo, Tabitha Mutinda, Eddy Oketch, Daniel Maanzo and Stewart Madzayo.

He said everyone responsible for the ghost workers debacle should be called out and he will support Governor Julius Malombe and the assembly to get to the bottom of the matter.

The Kitui payroll audit covered the years 2017 to 2022.

Malombe ordered the audit last November after the county wage bill became unmanageable.

It was carried out by the Kitui County Human Resource Audit and Rationalisation Committee.

Committee chairperson Florence Muinde handed the report of their findings to Malombe on Tuesday. 

Apart from the 935 ghost workers, it indicated 592 workers were hired irregularly.

The report recommends the salaries of the ghost workers and 592 irregularly hired workers be stopped.

The committee found that the county's annual wage bill had ballooned from Sh2.6 billion in 2017 to Sh4 billion in 2022.

“The auditor general report for the years ending June 2021 and June 2022 indicate that the county government of Kitui spent 43 per cent and 53.8 per cent respectively of the total receipt for the two years on compensation of employees,” Muinde said as she presented the report.

Malombe pledged to show leadership by making difficult decisions and working with the county assembly to implement the committee's recommendations.

He called for the support and goodwill of Kitui residents, saying an implementation committee will have to be set up.

“Calculate the amount of money they have been earning. How many ECDE classrooms we could have constructed?” he said.

“We will implement this report. Where immediate action has to be taken, we will take that action. Let us not forget one thing, we must follow due diligence; the thing called fairness and justice.” 

Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya