Number of phantom workers reaches 19,700

Dar es Salaam. The number of ghost workers climbed to 19,708 by January 31, meaning that the government was losing at least Sh19.8 billion in salaries every month paid to this group.

In August, last year, the minister of State in the President’s Office (Public Service Management and Good Governance), Ms Angellah Kairuki, told reporters then in the city that the number of ghost workers already identified stood at 16,137 and that these pocketed nearly Sh16.1 billion monthly in salaries.

But on Monday, Chief Secretary John Kijazi revealed that the government had identified 3,571 more ghost workers identified in five months and that these were pocketting at least Sh3.7 billion in salaries each month.

Speaking during an interview aired by the state owned TV Station, Mr Kijazi said recruitment of public servants had resumed following achievements recorded during the clampdown of ghost workers that commenced in March last year.

“The government is satisfied with the crackdown that is why recruitment has resumed after a temporary ban in order to audit public servants available and as I am speaking some sectors have already made recruitments,” he said.

In another development, a crackdown on fake certificates identified 319 public servants holding fake secondary school and teachers training certificates or had used education documents that did not belong to them.

Mr Kijazi said the government had suspended transfers from one department to another in order to verify Form Four, Six and teachers training certificates after discovering some public servants used fake certificates or those that belonged to other people.