Ruku sends 84 HR officers on leave as DCI probes suspected KSh6.2bn payroll fraud

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Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has stripped 84 human resource officers of their access to the government payroll system and sent them on 30 days’ compulsory leave, after a Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) inquiry flagged irregular salary transactions.

In a statement issued on Friday, Ruku said a preliminary DCI report had “unearthed irregular transactions in the public service payroll, especially in the Ministry of Health, Kenya Police Service and Kenya Prison Service”.

“The principles of public service in accordance with the Constitution demand public officers to utilise public resources prudently and judiciously,” the statement begins.

“I have directed the revocation of payroll system user rights of 84 human resources officers and an implementation of mandatory 30-day leave to allow further forensic investigations of the identified irregular transactions that have potentially led to loss of public funds,” the CS said.

Speaking at a press briefing in Nairobi the same day, Ruku put the suspected loss at about KSh6.2 billion. The written statement does not give a figure, name the officers or say over what period the transactions took place.

New officers to take over payroll

The Ministry of Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes, through the State Department for Public Service and Human Capital Development, will deploy new HR officers “with immediate effect” to run the payroll in the affected ministry and police services, according to the statement.

The aim is to let investigators finish their work and allow “further stern actions against those officers found culpable”, Ruku said.

“Any officer who violates the Constitution and other laws that prescribe management of public resources must take responsibility and be held accountable for their commissions and omissions that lead to loss of public monies,” he said.

Payroll controls under scrutiny

The action comes as the government tightens control over how public servants are paid. In August 2025, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said ministries, departments, agencies and county assemblies would be paid through an integrated payroll system, which he said would abolish multiple, mostly manual payrolls blamed for the diversion and loss of public funds, the Kenya News Agency reported at the time.

“At the end of this month, we will pay salaries through the integrated system for all MDAs and county assemblies,” Mbadi said then. He also said all public entities had been put on mandatory electronic procurement, another measure meant to cut wastage.

Earlier this week, the Controller of Budget said linking the payroll to the Integrated Financial Management Information System had ended borrowing to pay salaries, as BusinessRadar reported.

What it means for civil servants

The statement does not say whether salaries for staff in the Health Ministry, police or prisons will be affected while new officers take over. Public servants can check their monthly pay records on the Government Human Resource Information System, and our guide to downloading a GHRIS payslip explains how.

The DCI has not made its preliminary report public, and it is not yet clear whether any of the 84 officers will face criminal charges. Ruku said officers found culpable after the forensic review would face further action. The statement covers officers in the Ministry of Health, the Kenya Police Service and the Kenya Prison Service, but does not say how many of the 84 work in each.