PS Hinga admits payment delays for interns, cites payroll mix-up

A payroll mix-up involving two separate funding streams under the Affordable Housing Programme has led to delayed payments for interns and other staff, with Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga assuring that the issue is being fixed and salaries will be paid within days.

The Principal Secretary explained that the delay resulted from confusion during payroll processing, where salaries drawn from two different funding systems were wrongly merged, disrupting the normal payment schedule. He said the funds are available, and the problem was purely a processing error.

“It is true, and no one has been paid, actually, even myself,” he said on Tuesday, during an interview, confirming that the delay had affected multiple categories of workers.

Hinga noted that the programme operates on two separate payroll structures, one funded through the national exchequer and another supported by the housing levy under the Affordable Housing Board.

“What happened is that we have two budgets in which we pay. We have what we call the exchequer budget, and then we have the budget that comes from the housing levy,” he said.

The PS  added that the issue arose when the two payrolls were combined during processing, leading to confusion on payment timelines.

“There was a mistake when they combined the two payrolls—the exchequer one and then the one for the interns,” he said.

According to the PS , interns are normally paid through the housing levy system, which already has funds available and is designed to ensure payments are made by the 25th of every month.

“The interns are supposed to be paid by the 25th because that money we already have, but salaries under the exchequer depend on funds being released by the Treasury before we can process payments,” he said, stressing that the delay was not due to lack of funds but a processing mistake.

“The money we have, it’s just a mistake that should not happen, a mistake in terms of processing.”

Concerns had been raised over lack of communication to the affected interns, many of whom rely on the stipend for transport and other daily expenses while working at project sites.

Responding to this, the Principal Secretary acknowledged the gap and said communication should be improved whenever such delays occur.

“We acknowledge that we are aware the issue is on our side,” he said, adding that delays affecting interns should not happen.

The PS further explained that in some government systems, banks can be engaged to advance salaries when exchequer funds are delayed, but such an arrangement had not been applied in this case because the funds were already available.

“We may make an arrangement with our bank, they can pay the salaries because they can wait for the exchequer, but that arrangement has not been made for interns, because we have the money,” Hinga said.

The Principal Secretary assured that the delay would be cleared quickly, stating that payments would be processed without further hold-up.

“expect the money tomorrow, latest Thursday, they should be paid,” he said, adding that he would personally follow up on the issue.

“I will follow up today, it is one of the things that I’m going to follow up.”

Hinga also noted that the delay had a direct impact on young workers who depend on the stipends for daily needs while working on construction sites.

“These are young people, it makes a huge difference to them, but they also have out-of-pocket expenses, because they have to travel to site,” he said.

The PS  reiterated that the government is committed to fixing the payroll issue and ensuring similar delays do not happen again.