President Yoweri Museveni has directed the Director of Criminal Investigations Department, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP), Tom Magambo Rwabudongo, to investigate and apprehend the officers behind the ghost workers in government.
Museveni said this during the 38th National Resistance Movement (NRM) Liberation Day celebrations in Jinja.
“We must deal with corruption. The issue of ghost workers should be taken up by the CID because the thieves are criminals,” Museveni said.
He said parliament, through the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises (COSASE), promised to investigate the matter, but the file should go to CID for criminal process, not political offices.
The auditor general conducted a specialised audit encompassing the salary payroll of the entire government, involving the validation of all government employees in 367 entities.
These entities included 162 ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), 176 local governments, and 29 other government organisations, all for the month of February 2023.
Among the 367 entities audited, it was noted that only 265 MDAs and local governments processed their payrolls through the Ministry of Public Service (MoPS), while the remaining 102 MDAs employed separate payroll systems distinct from those utilised by the MoPS. During the comprehensive validation exercise, a total of 358,753 employees diligently provided all the required documents and information and underwent thorough verification. These employees were subsequently confirmed by their respective accounting officers.
In addition, 25,439 employees were partially verified as they did not submit all necessary documents. It was recommended that these individuals remain on the payroll temporarily until the appointing authority completes their verification process and takes appropriate action.
Approximately 2,246 employees were absent for legitimate reasons such as official leave, sick leave, secondment, and official work abroad, among other valid causes. Additionally, 7,744 individuals who were absent from the base payroll in February 2023 actively participated in the validation exercise and furnished all required documents.
The audit report highlighted a critical issue involving 2,067 employees who were paid a total of Shs1.87 billion in the base month alone (equivalent to Shs22.44 billion annually), yet they did not meet the validation exercise requirements. Consequently, it was strongly recommended that these individuals be excluded from the validated payrolls.
Furthermore, 6,307 employees were either confirmed as deceased, had absconded, or had retired by the time of validation. Among them, 2,483 employees were promptly removed from the payroll, while 3,824 were not deleted in a timely manner. As a result, Shs23.62 billion was erroneously disbursed to them after their exit date. It was recommended that these individuals be removed from the validated payroll to rectify this financial irregularity.
Lastly, the audit report identified 1,818 individuals who, in the base month of February 2023 alone, received payments totaling Shs560 million and were subsequently confirmed as non-existent, essentially representing ghost employees. These improper payments could potentially lead to an annual financial loss of Shs6.72 billion to the government.
