Mbadi gives counties 30-day ultimatum to eliminate ghost workers

The National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has issued a tough directive to all county governments, giving them 30 days to eliminate ghost workers from their payrolls by integrating their systems into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Database (IPPD).

Speaking on Monday, August 25, 2025, at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) during the launch of the FY 2026/27 and the Medium-Term Budget Preparation Process, Mbadi said the government would no longer tolerate resistance from counties.

Payroll abuse draining counties

You might also like

News

Mbadi’s unity call lights up Nyanza Youth Summit

Crime & Court

Govt suffers another setback in bid to force parents to pay school fees through e-Citizen

411

Mbadi: Govt can only pay 50% of lecturers’ Ksh7.9B demand for now

The CS revealed that counties spend an average of 55 per cent of their total revenue on salaries, both from their own collections and allocations from the national government.

He termed the practice unlawful and unsustainable, noting that inflated payrolls have crippled service delivery in key sectors such as health, water, and infrastructure.

“On integrating the payroll system, we have noted that counties are still resisting. The notion that we should wait for MDAs, county assemblies, or county executives is incorrect. When will they be ready?” Mbadi posed.

He decried the continued existence of ghost workers, saying many counties still operate parallel payrolls, manual, casual, and digital, creating loopholes that allow fraudulent payments.

According to him, the bloated workforce has become a burden on taxpayers and a key driver of budget deficits.

Strict compliance demanded

Mbadi insisted that the directive was not optional and directed Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo to oversee its implementation. He warned that county executives must comply fully within a month or face consequences.

“This is an instruction, and therefore, county executives must be onboarded soonest,” he said.

In addition to payroll reforms, the Treasury boss directed all ministries, departments, and state agencies (MDAs) to fully embrace the eProcurement system.

He accused some government officials of frustrating the digital system to revert to paper-based procurement, which he argued was prone to manipulation and corruption.

Mbadi said the reforms were part of the government’s wider efforts to seal leakages, curb wastage, and restore fiscal discipline across both national and county governments.