REPUBLIC OF KENYA NATIONAL GOVERNMENT PAYROLL AND HUMAN RESOURCE AUDIT EXERCISE My government is committed to ensure that public

service is managed effectively and efficiently. Part of our strategy is to ensure that not only does the public service deliver on its mandate, but that we as a government also eradicate wastage and loss of public resources thereby releasing more funds to development and service delivery. To this end, I instructed the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, being the ministry responsible for the Directorate of Public Service Management, to carry out a human resource audit in the public service. This exercise, has since begun and has included cleansing the payroll and identifying malpractices in payroll management in national government ministries. The earliest findings of this exercise has caused me to be very concerned. In an initial eight !" ministries partially audited, we have found evidence that indicates that a considerable number of officers who are either on secondment, are deceased, retired or have deserted their duties and who therefore ought not to be remunerated, are still retained in the public service payroll. In my view, this has contributed in the continued expansion of the wagebill, over and above the true and correct position. #or example, interim results from the eight ministries reveals that an estimated $shs. %& million could be deemed irregular payments to officers who have since left the service. If this were to be extrapolated to all '! national government ministries, assuming the same trend holds, we are li(ely to save about $shs. ')& million monthly, and approximately $shs. '.! billion annually. Though it is important to note that the process is still ongoing, and that verification of specific payments is being underta(en, initial reports suggest that considerable savings could be made on recurrent expenditures upon the correction of these erroneous payments on the system.

It is with this in mind, and considering the significance of these preliminary findings, and the consternation that these revelations portend, that I am directing the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, in collaboration with the *ational Treasury to out source this assignment, and, contract a reputable external firm to underta(e a comprehensive human resource audit and payroll cleansing exercise. The comprehensive audit should be underta(en within + months, and a report of the findings submitted to this office soon thereafter. The final report of this review is expected to significantly contribute to the rationali,ation programme of the public service currently being underta(en through the coordination of the Ministry of Devolution and Planning.

Uhuru Kenyatta CGH Pre!"#ent an# C$%%an#er "n Ch"e& $& the Kenya De&en'e F$r'e! ()r# *anuary (+,-