Homa Bay County

• The audit that was conducted by the Price Waterhouse Coopers firm, indicated the unaccounted for workers were earning at least Sh300million annually from the public coffers.
• Governor Wanga said the audit was being done in three phases with the first phase being identifying workers who are genuinely employed.

• The first phase of Homa Bay payroll and personnel census audit report reveals that the county government has more than 1,780 ghost workers. The audit that was conducted by the Price Waterhouse Coopers firm, indicated the unaccounted for workers were earning at least Sh300 million annually from the public coffers.

  The PWC exposed the ghost workers on Thursday in a work it began on November 21, 2022. Governor Gladys Wanga had hired the firm to undertake the work and weed out ghost employees. The report was handed to Wanga and her deputy Oyugi Magwanga by a partner at the PWC Simon Mutinda on Thursday.

  In the report, at least 556 individuals failed to present any appointment letters or other key employment documents while, 479 people were found to be earning salaries but cannot be traced by the county department of Human Resource. About 322 people lacked appropriate academic qualifications and/or have been licensed by their respective professional bodies as well as those whose Kenya National Examination Council certificates confirmed as authentic.

  Governor Wanga said they are going to start an administrative and legal journey of implementing the recommendations of the report. “We’re starting to implement the report recommendations forthwith to establish an efficient and effective public service. We chose the longer path because we believe in the rule of law and respect for natural justice,” Wanga said.

  The report further indicates that 287 individuals did not appear at all for verification as 129 of them had no files in the county registry and failed to present any relevant documents during the audit. Ten individuals were found in cybercafé in Homa Bay town generating supposed employment documents. “It’s unfortunate that three individuals were earning money from the public coffers but the underage allowable for employment by the Act,” she added.

  She said some people were regularly employed by the devolved unit and are earning salaries. Speaking after receiving the report at the county headquarters in Homa Bay town, Wanga said the audit was being done in three phases, with the first phase being identifying workers who are genuinely employed.

  “Phase one of the exercise focused on verification of county employees and payroll data,” the governor said. The other two phases include setting up of a clear staff establishment for the county public service and putting in place a human resource management system that will serve the people of Homa Bay.

  “The two phases will be executed upon the full implementation of the report we have received today,” she said. Eradication of ghost workers is expected to address the high wage bill and save the county government unnecessary expenses. Wanga said the funds can be used in development projects in other areas.                              

Homa Bay County has a total population of 1,131,950 persons, of which 539,560 are males, 592,367 females and 23 intersex persons. It has 262,036 households with an average of 4.3 people per household. The county has a population density of 359 people per square kilometre.

Population By Sub-County