The government has launched a nationwide audit of public offices as it seeks to reduce leasing costs and improve the management of government assets.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The exercise was among the key issues discussed during the monthly meeting of Principal Secretaries chaired by Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) in Loresho.

According to the government, the audit will establish the number, location and status of public offices across the country, with the findings expected to guide efforts to reduce spending on leased office space.

Senior government officials also reviewed progress on major reforms being implemented under the Whole-of-Government Approach (WOGA), which aims to improve coordination and efficiency across ministries, departments and agencies.

📌 What You Need to Know

The office audit comes as the government continues a nationwide crackdown on payroll fraud through an ongoing audit of civil servants.

Principal Secretaries received an update on the payroll audit, which is aimed at identifying ghost workers and removing fraudulent salary payments from government payrolls.

The latest review follows the launch of investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) into suspected payroll fraud after a forensic audit uncovered irregularities amounting to Ksh6.2 billion.

Speaking in July, DCI Director Mohamed Amin said detectives had received the Human Resource Audit and Forensic Report and were carrying out evidence-based investigations into suspected payroll fraud involving more than one million civil servants across national and county governments.

The audit uncovered cases of ghost workers, forged employment records, multiple salary payments and questionable banking details. Investigators also found instances where some employees were recorded as having joined the public service before they were born or before reaching the age of 18.

Government reports indicate that more than 17,000 ghost workers have been identified across the public service, with thousands serving in ministries, state corporations, universities and independent commissions.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke