President Uhuru Kenyatta has today launched Biometric registration for public servants to put a stop to the infamous 'Ghost workers' that has seen the government loose ksh1million monthly, in salary payments.

The president who was first to register pledged to roll out the exercise to all government agencies and county governments in order to have all legal workers on the system within a fortnight. The launch with the hashtag 'Tambulika' is intended to ensure quality service Kenyans deserve. It will also ensure verification of staff on government payroll and in a case a public servant is not registered; the government will not recognize them and will therefore receive no pay.

The move is part of the Inter-Governmental steering committee for the capacity Assessment and rationalization of the public service programme which is a joint initiative of the National and the county governments. Speaking at the launch in Mombasa, Cabinet secretary for Ministry of Devolution and planning Ms Anne Waiguru said "This exercise will contribute significantly to the rationalization of the Public Service by determining the actual numbers of public servants and will also be used to cleanse the payroll at both levels of Government- hence bring a stop to the issue of 'Ghost Workers'."

Civil servants will be required to present themselves with Original ID cards, completed biometric data form, original academic and professional certificates, letter of first appointment, letter to the current substantive post, current pay slip and birth certificate.

The biometrics is a tried and tested system able to cope with the data authentication requirements of the CARPS programme system, it is also uniquely capable of readily matching employee data derived from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Data (IPPD) against the actual employees who will be required to present themselves in person for the biometric data capture.

Over 700 senior government officials have been trained to see through the process aimed at helping align government structures, processes and programs to the mandates and functions of national and county governments to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in Public Service delivery in line with the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and Kenya's Vision 2030.

The exercise that set off July last year had counties perform a headcount of workers to weed out these "ghost workers" to trim their wage bills.  In addition to finding ghost workers, the audit was also rolled out to check the academic credentials of county employees to verify they are qualified for their jobs. Each county's public service board will determine the next action for those employed without proper qualifications.

With the biometric registration of all public servants, I hope that within a short time we will be able to put to rest the issue of ghost workers in the public service and ensure efficient management of public resources," President Kenyatta said. He called on public servants to co-operate and participate in the registration exercise to ensure efficiency at county levels.