Kenya is on a mission to rid its government agencies of ghost workers and yesterday the country’s president Uhuru Kenyatta was the first civil servant to take part in an exercise that will have all government employees register have their details captured digitally.

Known as the Capacity Assessment and Rationalization of the Public Service (CARPS) Programme, the exercise will have all employees in Ministries, Departments and Agencies at the National and County governments  physically present themselves at the identification centers with the following documents: Original ID card; duly completed biometric data form; original academic and professional certificates; letter of 1^st appointment; letter to the current substantive post; current pay slip; and birth certificate.

Photographs and fingerprints will also be added to details already in the database and those who will not have arrived at the end of the exercise and whose whereabouts are not accounted for in terms of authorized leave or absence due to travel and other reasons will be deemed to be “ghost workers” and will be eliminated from the public service payroll.

While speaking in Mombasa, President Kenyatta said that the exercise, that will verify staff on Government payroll and their qualification, is not meant to victimize but to ensure that all public servants are accounted for

“With the biometric registration of all public servants, I hope that within a short time we will be able to put to rest the issue of ghost workers in the public service and ensure efficient management of public resources,” he said

The Cabinet Secretary for Ministry of Devolution and Planning, Ms. Anne Waiguru said, “This exercise will contribute significantly to the rationalization of the Public Service by determining the actual numbers of public servants and will also be used to cleanse the payroll at both levels of Government- hence bring a stop to the issue of ‘Ghost Workers’.”

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