Gov’t Warns Civil Servants Of Salary Payment Freeze
Geoffrey Ruku, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes, has issued a strong warning to state agencies that have failed to join the government’s Human Resource Information System (HRIS).
Ruku threatened to freeze their salaries if the command is not followed.
Speaking at a public service meeting on Friday, May 29, Ruku stated that only 47 of Kenya’s 575 state agencies have currently been onboarded onto the HRIS platform, a ratio he termed as highly alarming and unacceptable.
The CS set human resource managers a two-month deadline to guarantee that their organizations completed the onboarding process, warning that failing to comply would result in direct financial penalties for employees in those agencies.
CS Ruku orders rollout of tamper-proof HR system to curb payroll fraud pic.twitter.com/Qt8aITjZ6f— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) May 29, 2026
“For the human resource managers who are here and they work with the government agencies, and you know your agency is not on-boarded on HRS, make sure in the next two months you have done what is required for your institution to be on-boarded on HRS, period to which a time is coming when we will not pay salaries and allowances if those institutions which are not on-boarded on Human Resource Information System,” warned CS Ruku.
The warning applies to a wide range of government institutions, including the National Police Service (NPS), the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), parastatals, public universities, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.
The CS said the HRIS platform has been upgraded and strengthened to seal loopholes that have, for years, allowed payroll fraud to thrive undetected across government institutions.
He painted a troubling picture of the loopholes in the current system, stating: “We have cases in the National Police Service where an interdicted officer is no longer earning a salary, yet that salary continues to be paid into a certain account and ends up in someone’s pocket. There are many such cases.”
Meanwhile, Ruku confirmed that a payroll forensic audit commissioned last year has been completed, with a detailed report now in hand outlining how public funds have been misappropriated and the steps required to address the gaps.
The audit findings reportedly expose a web of ghost workers drawing salaries without ever reporting to work, duplicated names across multiple stations, and irregular allowance payments quietly inflating the public wage bill beyond sustainable levels.
ALSO READ:
- Gov’t Warns Civil Servants Of Salary Payment Freeze
- IPOA Identifies Police Officer Who Shot Anti-Fuel Protestor
- DRC Responds To US-Kenya Quarantine Deal Amidst Backlash
- Laikipia Leaders Reject Ruto’s Proposed Ebola Isolation Centre In Nanyuki
- Huduma Kenya Explains ID Issuance Delays, Provides Alternative
“The ghost worker who draws a salary but has never reported to her desk, the duplicated names that service across multiple stations, the multiple irregular payments of allowances that quietly inflate obligations beyond what any budget can bear,” stated CS Ruku.
The CS urged all human resource managers present to take personal ownership of the onboarding process, stressing that accountability is the only path forward for a leaner and more honest public service.
This year alone, the number of ghost workers flagged has varied across audits. Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu was unable to verify 596 county employees during recent checks across multiple counties and regions, with investigations still ongoing.
Additionally, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) flagged a Ksh978 million payroll lapse, while separate local audits identified 1,783 unverified workers and over 1,000 ghost employees in Bungoma County reports.
This trend, according to CS Ruku, aims to halt this troubling pattern in the public employment sector, which might, in the long run, put the country’s job market in jeopardy.
Gov’t Warns Civil Servants Of Salary Payment Freeze
