Ruku to civil servants: Absentees and latecomers to be treated as ghost workers
By Nancy Marende, July 15, 2025Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has warned government employees who report to work late or fail to appear during official working hours, stating that such individuals will henceforth be treated as ghost workers.
Speaking during his inspection of the Central Regional Headquarters in Nyeri County on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, Ruku expressed his displeasure with the growing culture of absenteeism and laxity within the public sector.
“Everybody working in any government office who doesn’t report to work at the required time, and those who report to work and disappear, we shall be treating them as ghost workers moving forward,” he said.
“Most of you who are late, you are not different from my definition of a ghost worker. You receive a salary from the people of Kenya, you are reporting to work at the right time, you get to the office at 9:00 am and leave at 11:00 am, and therefore, you are just a ghost worker,” he said.
Ruku emphasised that the government would no longer tolerate such behaviour, announcing immediate enforcement actions targeting latecomers.
Show cause letters
“Moving forward, we are going to start today with those who are late; we are going to get your name, personal number, and ID number, and we will issue a letter to show the course why you are not taking your job seriously,” he stated.
Additionally, he stated that disciplinary action would follow if investigations through other systems confirmed a pattern of negligence or misconduct.
“And if we check through other systems, then we will take further drastic measures,” he warned.
During his Nyeri inspection, Ruku revealed a stark contrast in punctuality among different departments. Staff at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Huduma Centre achieved a commendable punctuality rate of 98–100 per cent.
However, attendance across other government departments stood at less than 50 per cent as of 8:00 a.m., the official reporting time as per the 2016 Public Service Human Resource Policies and Procedures Manual.
The manual stipulates a 40-hour workweek for public officers, running from Monday through Friday. Standard hours are 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in most regions, with Mombasa and northern counties operating slightly earlier, beginning at 7:30 a.m.