Cabinet approves reforms after audit finds 4.7m altered payroll records

 President William Ruto chairs a cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi. [PCS]

Cabinet has approved sweeping payroll reforms following a special audit that uncovered widespread manipulation of 4.7 million records by 720 system editors within the Government Human Resource Information System-Kenya (HRIS-K).

The audit of the 2024-2025 financial year disclosed failures in governance, integrity and cybersecurity, with instances of staff editing their own records without audit trails and the absence of basic cybersecurity safeguards.

Financial irregularities linked to unauthorised payments and excessive salary arrears were identified, while weak disaster-recovery arrangements and expired Information and Communication Technology (ICT) licences were flagged as major risks to public funds.

The audit further revealed that about 300 state corporations failed to migrate to HRIS-K, compounding poor system integration and payroll anomalies relating to identity records, tax compliance and bank accounts.

Cabinet sanctioned immediate stabilisation measures, including mandatory security certification by 11 March 2026, deployment of forensic analytics to guide disciplinary and legal action, and full integration of a statutory deductions platform.

Statutory deductions will be effected strictly at source across all public entities, with a meeting of principal secretaries, accounting officers and heads of parastatals to be convened to oversee implementation.

Accounting officers were directed to submit verified payroll data, fully cooperate with audits and take personal responsibility for any irregularities.

The reforms also provide for the establishment of payroll audit units and urgent ICT upgrades to strengthen controls and safeguard public resources.