NAIROBI CITY COUNCILS 4000 GHOST WORKERS

The City Council of Nairobi has over 4,000 ghost workers according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The stunning revelations indicate that 46 employees had fake degree certificates, while 15 people on the council payroll could not be identified. The audit also revealed 145 people on the council payroll do not appear on the human resource records while 307 others are holding suspicious employment letters. The auditing firm was commissioned by the council early this year to determine the number of employees and their qualifications. Yesterday, PwC handed over the report to Town Clerk Philip Kisia and Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa in a ceremony attended by senior council officers and councillors. Kisia said the report will help seal loopholes that have seen the council lose Sh60 millions monthly. He said the ghost workers nearly constitute 35 per cent of the 12,000 workforce. Kisia also revealed that 3,026 employees did not take up medical cover offered by the council, raising concerns that they were non-existent. "It is surprising that an employee can fail to show interest in a medical cover," said Kisia. Another 500 employees failed to produce their national identity cards during the headcount. Lacking professionals Kisia directed that the 15 names without identity be removed from the payroll immediately. Majiwa promised to ensure employees are hired on merit. "The council will not relent in its quest to root out corruption. The audit has given us an opportunity to send home workers who are not supposed to be working at the local authority," said Majiwa. The audit was funded by the World Bank to the tune of Sh44 million. The headcount took three weeks but a comprehensive forensic audit is expected to take one year. Kisia said the audit also revealed that the council lacked critical professional staff including engineers, planners, architects and financial experts leading to poor delivery of services.