Auditors have flagged nearly 600 county employees who could not be traced, revealing that Sh978 million in salaries may have gone to ghost workers. The findings come from special audits conducted in 26 counties between December 2024 and February 2025, which sought to verify staff on county payrolls.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu said the audits involved 2,354 workers selected for physical verification, but 596 failed to appear, leaving their employment unconfirmed.
“The failure by more than a quarter of sampled employees to physically present themselves raises serious concerns about the authenticity of county payrolls and the risk of irregular or fraudulent payments,” Gathungu said.
Machakos County had the largest number of unverified employees. Auditors asked 44 employees from the County Executive to appear, but 23 did not turn up despite repeated requests. These 23 employees received a total of Sh75,765,585 over the three-year review period.
Kajiado County also recorded high numbers, with 94 of 189 sampled employees absent, accounting for Sh82.7 million in salaries. In Mandera, 49 out of 99 staff failed verification, raising questions about Sh112 million paid in the same period.
Nairobi County saw 30.3 per cent of sampled employees missing, with 27 of 89 officers not presenting themselves and collectively earning Sh47,552,597.
Other counties were similarly affected. Samburu had 33.7 per cent of employees absent, Nandi 38.2 per cent, while Mombasa and Kakamega both had 28 per cent.
Kiambu County missed 21 of 106 employees, who had received Sh67.8 million over three years.
The audit also highlighted high salaries among unverified employees. In Baringo, five missing staff received an average of Sh130,143 per month, totaling Sh23.4 million. Nandi had 34 unverified employees earning Sh109,515 each monthly, and three officers in Isiolo were paid Sh102,303 per month.
Gathungu warned that failure to present employees for verification casts doubt on payroll records and increases the risk of irregular or fraudulent payments, including salaries to staff who may not offer services to county offices.
The Controller of Budget reported that counties spent Sh132.2 billion on salaries in the year ending June 2025, highlighting the scale of potential financial exposure.
