Public Service to weed out ghost workers

Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro has said government is carrying out an audit to establish the number of civil servants on its payroll. This comes amid reports that over 30 000 ghost teachers are receiving government allowances every month.

Minister Mukonoweshuro said the audit was expected to be completed by mid-July. He said the government took the decision to undertake the audit following discoveries that some of the workers were not genuinely engaged by the government, amid reports that some youth militia aligned to Zanu PF were receiving monthly salaries from the government.

The Ministry of Education has since discovered discrepancies in the number of teachers on its payroll. The three teachers’ unions have 60 000 members on their books but the education ministry showed that 90 000 members were on the government payroll.

“We are doing it meticulously and this is the first time that such an audit has been carried out.  In the past there have been manpower surveys but this exercise seeks to establish who is a genuine civil servant and who is not,” Mukonoweshuro said.