Civil Servant App to Curb Ghost Workers
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku recently shared that the government is gearing up to launch a new app aimed at paying all civil servants across the nation, a move designed to eliminate ghost workers.
In an interview with Radio Citizen on Monday, July 28, the CS explained that while the government has already implemented a new payment system for workers, this app will enhance that system, making it even more efficient.
Ruku mentioned that the ministry is collaborating with a local telecommunications company to develop the mobile app, which every government employee will need to download on their phones.
Additionally, the CS noted that the app will also be used to track attendance at the workplace.
“So far, all the workers are being paid using the new system, which is showing us that you are a government worker and you are in the office. Before, there were so many ghost workers, because you would find that someone is on the payroll and yet they don’t go to the office,” Ruku said.
“Now we are going to sit down and ensure that in that payroll system we are doing some modifications whereby all government workers will be required to download another app, which will now be used to pay the workers and track whether you have been in the office or not,” he added.
According to the CS, ghost workers—those who either show up late or not at all—have significantly hindered the government’s ability to provide timely and quality services at both county and national levels throughout the country.
The CS has stated that he won’t hesitate to make surprise visits to government offices to ensure that employees are sticking to their scheduled hours and fulfilling their responsibilities.
“Ghost workers, according to me, are not only workers who receive their salaries but don’t appear at their workplaces; they are also people who arrive at work late or those who come to the office and leave to go do their own businesses,” Ruku said.
The announcement comes just a few days after the Chief Secretary, during a press briefing on Tuesday, July 15, revealed that the government plans to implement attendance registers in all government offices to monitor civil servants’ attendance at work.
Additionally, Ruku mentioned that supervisors in these offices will need to evaluate employee satisfaction across all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) as part of a larger initiative to reform the civil service.
“Going forward, we want to engage all supervisors across all levels of administration and introduce an attendance register to ensure every employee has a clearly defined schedule of duties,” the CS said.
Civil Servant App to Curb Ghost Workers
