Homa Bay assembly lost Sh4.5m to ghost workers
What you need to know:
- The faceless staff were ‘contracted’ as ward employees earning a Sh20,000 monthly salary each.
Funds were being channelled to the accounts of ghost workers and fake contractors from August last year.
A payroll audit at the Homa Bay County Assembly has revealed that the House lost up to Sh4.5 million to ghost workers.
The assembly is also losing millions of shillings paying for services that were not rendered.
The assembly leadership revealed that funds were being channelled to the accounts of ghost workers and fake contractors from August last year.
Majority Leader Walter Muok said they have undertaken an audit of all payments made by the assembly and discovered that the House had “employed” 19 workers who were earning salaries but were not offering any services to county residents.
140 EMPLOYEES
The ghost workers were 'contracted’ as ward employees.
The assembly has 40 elected ward representatives and 20 nominated ones.
Each of the elected MCAs has three employees at their offices while their nominated colleagues have one employee each.
This means the assembly should have 140 employees.
According to the payroll, each of the employees is paid Sh20,000 per month.
LOOPHOLES
However, according to Mr Muok, the previous county assembly service board employed 159 people, meaning the House was paying salaries for 19 none-existent workers.
Mr Muok said the faceless workers have gobbled up more than Sh4.5 million in the past year.
He said this was revealed after the county assembly undertook changes in the board membership.
“The new board members identified a number of loopholes that some people used to siphon money from the assembly,” he said.
Other revelations include Sh300,000 monthly expenditure for workers’ tea.
CUTTING GRASS
Mr Muok said the assembly lost Sh3.6 million from last year as a result. “None of the workers at the assembly are given tea while at work. The funds for this service were being pocketed by someone,” he said.
He added that Sh35,000 was lost monthly for cutting grass and maintaining vegetation within the assembly compound.
Ironically, the assembly grounds is paved with cabro blocks and has no grass!
The Majority leader said the audit is ongoing in other sectors to reveal the extent of the rot at the assembly.
Several MCAs, including Mr Dan Were (Kakelo Kokwanyo), Mr Ellyphalet Osuri (Ruma Kaksingri) and Ms Evaline Otieno (nominated), condemned the financial misappropriation.
“We invite the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the matter.
“We want legal action taken against those who embezzled public funds at the assembly,” Mr Were said.
