Public Service CS Geoffrey Ruku Orders 84 HR Officers to Step Aside Over KSh6.2 Billion Payroll Probe

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has directed 84 human resource officers in the Ministry of Health, Kenya Police Service and Kenya Prison Service to step aside and take mandatory 30-day leave after a Directorate of Criminal Investigations probe flagged payroll irregularities worth an estimated KSh6.2 billion.

Ruku said the officers’ payroll system user rights have been withdrawn and that replacement HR staff will be deployed to maintain payroll operations while forensic investigations continue.

“We have credible evidence as far as Kenya prisons are concerned, as far as the Ministry of Health is concerned, and also the Kenya Police Service,” Ruku said, adding that arrests could be made before the leave period ends, particularly among officials in the Kenya Prison Service.

“There will be arrests before the end of those working days,” he warned, noting that investigators are pursuing the transactions and accounts through which the alleged irregular payments were processed.

The DCI investigation, based on a forensic audit submitted three months ago, identified suspicious transactions across the three agencies and alleged that some payments were routed through beneficiaries recruited by colleagues, with instances of multiple salaries being channelled into a single bank account.

An internal audit carried out in June had already uncovered cases of civil servants whose employment records indicated they were hired before birth or before reaching the age of 18, highlighting extensive payroll irregularities.

The Ministry of Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes will, with immediate effect, replace the 84 officers to manage payroll functions while the probe proceeds.