This archive report was first published on 21 November 2019.
Residents of Siaya County are planning to take legal action against the county government and individuals who have been receiving salaries without performing any duties.
The move comes after it emerged that Governor Cornel Rasanga had instructed the county secretary to include individuals in the payroll without proper job descriptions, allegedly as a reward for their support during the election period.
According to sources, senior officials in the finance department were receiving Sh5,000 from the ghost workers to facilitate payments, which were then deducted from the salaries of other employees.
Recently, county workers were shocked when aged politicians, including a former chairman of the defunct Bondo county council, walked into the county headquarters to collect their salaries, citing a directive from the county secretary that employees must present themselves in person to collect their wages.
Among those who collected their salaries was a former chairman of the Bondo town council, Akello Gwela, who was over 70 years old and claimed he could not bear to stand for long. He was accompanied by other politicians, including the ODM party chairman for Ugenya constituency, Darlington Mududa.
Residents are now calling on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the ghost workers payments and arrest those involved.
