The Kenyan government is taking bold steps to increase transparency and accountability in the civil service by introducing a new mobile app to pay and track attendance of all civil servants across the country. The announcement was made by Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku as part of the ongoing effort to weed out ghost workers and improve public service.
On Radio Citizen on July 28, 2025, CS Ruku said the government has already introduced a new payment system for civil servants but the new app will further strengthen the process. The app will not only pay salaries but also monitor employees’ attendance to ensure all government workers are at their official work stations.
A New App to Track and Pay Civil Servants
According to CS, the mobile app will be developed with a local telco and every government employee will be required to download it on their phone. This is to increase accountability by linking workers’ attendance to their payroll.
“The app will be used to track whether government workers have been coming to the office and doing their work. This is a big step towards eliminating ghost workers who receive salaries without doing their work,” said Ruku.
Before, the government had challenges with ghost workers—individuals who were in the payroll but not showing up to work or not even present in the office. This new app will solve this problem by tracking attendance and only paying those who are actively working.
Fighting Ghost Workers
Ghost workers have been a problem in Kenya’s public sector for long, many employees receive salaries without actually doing their work. This has affected the government’s ability to provide services to citizens at national and county levels.
Ruku said the new system will address employees who arrive late, leave early or don’t show up to work at all. He also said the app will go hand in hand with unannounced visits to government offices to ensure employees are at their work stations.
“Ghost workers are not just those who receive salaries but don’t come to the office. They also include those who arrive late or leave to do personal errands,” he added.
Introducing Attendance Registers
Alongside the new mobile app, CS Ruku also introduced attendance registers in all government offices. These will be a physical record of employee presence to complement the digital monitoring by the app.
By introducing these registers, the government wants all civil servants to have a clear job description. The new system will be part of the broader reforms to improve employee satisfaction and increase service delivery in government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Civil Service Reform: Focus on Employee Satisfaction and Monitoring
As part of the ongoing civil service reforms, Ruku said supervisors at all levels will now be required to monitor employee satisfaction across all ministries and agencies. This is in line with the government’s overall goal of improving service delivery by making sure civil servants are not only present but also satisfied with their work environment.
“We want to engage all supervisors across all levels of administration to help track and measure employee satisfaction as part of our civil service reform,” Ruku said.
Strengthening Accountability in the Public Sector
The new app and attendance registers are part of a bigger plan to improve accountability and service delivery in the public sector. By digitizing and modernizing how civil servants are tracked and paid, the government wants to get rid of ghost workers and make sure the right people are paid for the work they do.
As part of the government’s civil service reform, these will help create a more efficient, transparent and accountable public sector that serves all Kenyans.
A Step Towards a Transparent and Efficient Public Sector
With the new app and attendance registers, the government is taking big steps to reform the civil service and make sure taxpayers’ money is being used well. These will help eliminate ghost workers, improve employee accountability and overall service delivery across the country.