Yesterday the public woke up to what can be described as ‘shameful news’ after Deputy Minister for Finance Mwigulu Nchemba informed reporters that the government in the month of July alone saved over Sh40 billion, money that could have gone into shoddy pockets.



According to the deputy minister, the money saved could have been swindled by some government officials, pretending to have been spent in settling civil servants’ salaries for July.

The saving, according to the minister, became possible after the Treasury introduced an e-salary payroll system by channeling civil servants’ salaries directly to public servants’ accounts instead of disbursing cheques to relevant government ministries responsible for paying their employees.

Mwigulu made it clear that through the new arrangement the Treasury noted that there were about 14,000 ghost workers fitted in the service portfolio, who could have ‘received’ billions of shillings in salaries.

If one thinks critically he could probably conclude that there is a sophisticated network of thieves in the government who have, most probably for years now, been benefiting from the ghost list of workers.

One could ask: how come ministries have no ability to audit their staff members, especially at this era of advanced information technology?

 The simple response to this question is that ghost workers in ministries is a ‘deliberately established conduit’ through some accounting officers within the ministries siphon public funds, period.

It may be recalled for years now that the government through the public service department has been announcing to have scrapped ghost workers from government payrolls but the problem keeps on being repeated, prompting one to think the ‘project’ is deliberately created.

For God’s sake if in only one month the government has been able to save over sh40 billion how much might have been ending up in unscrupulous people’s pockets  in the past two or three years? It should be understood that Sh40 billion could have financed the construction of at least 40 kilometres of tarmac road.

According to Nchemba, the government would take stern measures on those responsible with forging and stealing public funds but again one may doubt the government’s commitment to that resolve, considering the fact that several warnings have been issued by various leaders, including President Jakaya Kikwete himself with no rectification measures. 

The Controller and Auditor General (CAG) has on several occasions indicated the magnitude of the problem in government ministries but again the audit reports ended up in dusty government shelves. 

This country faces a number of problems caused by shortages in government funding yet some individuals are siphoning billions by paying non-existing civil servants. 

This is as inexplicable as it is unacceptable. Individuals responsible for this mess must be brought to justice – no more no less.