Report: Only one worker has proof of employment

By STANLEY MWAHANGA

Only one employee out of Mombasa County’s 2,763 strong workforce has a verifiable letter of employment, according to shocking details of an audit report.

The report also shows that an employee designated as dead has been earning a salary.

And according to the audit by Ernst & Young and commissioned by the Muslims for Human Rights in July last year, seven employees sacked in official records were still on the payroll at the time of the investigation.

Most employees of the Mombasa county government have questionable employment letters, according to an audit report that has unearthed hundreds of ghost workers, including many with fake IDs and dozens still working beyond the 60 years retirement age.

Unverified information

The report, published in Mombasa yesterday after months of delay, shows that only one employee inherited from the defunct Mombasa Municipal Council produced an original employment letter.

And the auditors disclosed that most of the 2,763 workers on the payroll either provided unverified information of their employment letters, lied outrightly, could not identify their supervisors, produced falsified papers or exist only on the payroll.

Out of the 2,763, 212 were considered ghost workers because they did not turn up for vetting. And 2,053 employees presented “uncertified copies of employment letters” while 81 turned up without any letter to justify their employment.

Some 83 of the 212 ghost workers were found to be deceased but it is  not clear if they were still earning salaries since their names were forwarded by the Mombasa county government as among those who were supposed to be vetted.

“Only one employee presented an original copy of the employment letter. However, 416 employees presented certified copies of the same,” the report states.

The report was compiled to weed out ghost workers in the county and reduce the soaring wage bill.

“Additionally, based on the employee data provided, 55 were indicated as being 60 years of age and above. Of this, 21 were indicated to have been born on the same date, that is, February 28, 1953. Seven employees were 61 years old and beyond,” showed the report.

Some 12 employees produced identification cards with bloated ID numbers, with some cards having more than 11 characters instead of the maximum eight digits.

The report identified 15 people who have been receiving double salaries.

Twenty-five were found to have been hired by the defunct council even though they had not reached the minimum required age for employment.