UDA has ghost workers on State payroll, former SG Malala claims

Police officers keep vigil at UDA headquarters, Nairobi. [File, Standard] Former United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary General Cleophas Malala now claims he was "forced" by the party's leadership to pay "ghost workers" during his tenure at the party. Malala told The Standard that some of the people on the party's payroll worked in government institutions, even as he alleged that the party had deliberately hired unqualified persons to ensure an alleged tax-evasion scheme was executed successfully. "I was forced, by the party's leadership, to pay ghost workers. We had almost 40 to 50 people coming to work, but when you look at the payroll, we have almost 197 people," Malala said, allegations The Standard could not independently verify. He was not specific about who "forced" him to pay the alleged ghost workers, some of whom he said feature in an unverified "payroll" of the party. "Some are working in government institutions. Others were working in the Executive arm of government, and yet they still drew a salary from UDA. That amounted to a double payment. I sought clarification from the Auditor General and Attorney General, and it was clear that we are not supposed to be paying public servants. When I refused to double pay them, I met resistance from the party's leadership," he said in an exclusive interview. One of the attachments is of a person appointed into a parastatal, with a subsequent one a list showing a person of the same name receiving Sh300,000. The payment is shown to be made from an account belonging to UDA and bears the party's name, other stamps and signatures, but The Standard cannot verify if it is the ruling party's. We cannot tell whether a list containing people, their alleged accounts and payments is, indeed, a payroll as Malala claims. For this reason, The Standard shall not publish any of the names listed or the parastatals from which the alleged "ghost workers" are said to be drawn, as we cannot confirm they are the said people receiving double payments. Neither shall we publish names of UDA officials, the former senator later alleges "forged minutes" of meetings to secure withdrawals from the party's accounts. It is instructive to note that all business transactions and invoicing are done through the Kenya Revenue Authority's eTims portal, which offers the government unfettered access in determining services rendered and payments made by private individuals and public entities. On Friday, UDA's Director of Communication Rob Jillo termed Malala's allegations "ridiculous". We sent him the specific claims made by Malala in this article via WhatsApp. He had said he would offer an official response. Jillo later referred us to Secretary General Hassan Omar, the party's official spokesperson, whom we futilely tried to reach on the phone. We sent Omar, an East African Legislative Assembly lawmaker, a request to respond to the specific claims. Malala's allegations are contained in an affidavit sworn last September, which he said he submitted at UDA's dispute resolution committee, in which he claims to have netted "at least 80 ghost workers" on the party's payroll despite not reporting for work through setting up "biometric, electronic and manual log-in systems". "The payroll had 158 staff while the log-in sheet had less than 90 staff reporting to work regularly. With this knowledge, I made deliberate efforts to weed out the ghost workers by refusing to sign and authorise payrolls until names of the non-existent staff were removed," he swears in the affidavit. The number of alleged ghost workers in the affidavit significantly contradicts what he stated in our interview. He had said that up to 50 staff showed up for work regularly and placed the payroll as having "almost 197 people." In a letter to one of Kenya's leading banks dated May 16, 2024, Malala directs that no cheque should be "cleared unless it is accompanied by a fully signed voucher" as a means of "reducing the risk of errors and potential fraudulent activities." "These attempts (weeding out ghost workers) resulted in delay in paying staff salaries. My attempts to weed out the said ghost workers from the system and payroll were met with extreme resistance (sic)," Malala adds in the affidavit, saying that salaries would later be paid without his approval. He highlights an advisory opinion allegedly obtained from the Solicitor General, which directed against having persons serving in parastatal and State corporation boards and other agencies. "The political parties' secretariat who are employed to advance the activities of the party and are subsequently appointed as board members are expected to relinquish their positions in the political parties so as not to draw salaries from both institutions. Accordingly, the members may be advised to either resign from the political party or the Boards (sic)," the letter purportedly written to Malala by Solicitor General Shadrack Mose on June 7, 2024, reads in part. Other attachments feature letters to several bodies regarding the eligibility of non-accountants serving in party's accounts office.

UDA has ghost workers on State payroll, former SG Malala claims

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