The Cabinet has approved wide-ranging payroll reforms aimed at restoring integrity to the public service wage bill after a special audit exposed serious governance, integrity and cybersecurity weaknesses in the Government Human Resource Information System–Kenya (HRIS-K).
The reforms follow findings from a special audit of the 2024/2025 financial year, which revealed systemic payroll anomalies involving identity records, tax compliance and bank account details across public institutions.
The audit further found that poor system integration and the failure of about 300 State corporations to migrate to HRIS-K had significantly undermined oversight and control of payroll operations.
According to the Cabinet briefing, one of the most alarming discoveries was the extent of unauthorised system access.
“Of particular concern was the finding that 720 system editors altered more than 4.7 million payroll records without audit trails, including instances where staff edited their own records,” the Cabinet noted.
The audit also established that HRIS-K lacked basic cybersecurity safeguards, exposing sensitive payroll data and public funds to abuse.
Financial irregularities were flagged, including unauthorised payments and the accumulation of excessive salary arrears, raising concerns about the sustainability of the public wage bill.
Weak disaster-recovery arrangements and expired ICT licences were also identified as major risks, heightening the potential for system failure and loss of critical data.
In response, the Cabinet approved a firm reform roadmap designed to stabilise the system and prevent future abuse.
measures already undertaken were presented, alongside a series of binding directives to strengthen governance, accountability and technological resilience.
Central to the reforms is the enforcement of statutory deductions at source across all public entities to eliminate loopholes that have allowed inconsistent or non-compliant deductions.
“The decision follows a special audit of the 2024–2025 financial year, which disclosed serious governance, integrity, and cybersecurity failures within the Government Human Resource Information System–Kenya,” the Cabinet said, underscoring the urgency of the intervention.
Among the key reforms approved is mandatory security certification of HRIS-K by March 11, 2026, alongside the deployment of forensic analytics to support disciplinary and legal action against officers implicated in payroll manipulation.
The Cabinet also sanctioned a governance reset of HRIS-K and full integration of a statutory deductions platform to ensure uniform application of tax and other mandatory deductions.
Accounting officers have been directed to submit verified payroll data, fully cooperate with ongoing and future audits, and take personal responsibility for any irregularities identified within their institutions.
A high-level meeting bringing together Principal Secretaries, accounting officers and heads of parastatals will be convened to oversee implementation and ensure compliance across government.
“It was further directed that statutory deductions be effected strictly at source across all public entities,” the Cabinet stated, signalling a zero-tolerance approach to payroll manipulation and non-compliance.
The reforms also provide for the establishment of dedicated Payroll Audit Units and urgent ICT upgrades to strengthen internal controls, enhance system security and safeguard public resources.
The Cabinet said the measures are intended to address long-standing payroll integrity issues that have persisted across successive administrations, and to restore public confidence in the management of government payroll systems.
