Uhuru says gov’t lost Ksh.1.8B to 2,600 ghost workers in police service

President Uhuru Kenyatta says the pilot exercise of the newly-launched National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS), also known as Huduma Namba, has revealed loop holes through which the government was losing money.

Speaking while presiding over the launch on Tuesday in Masii, Machakos County, the President stated that the registration process had identified 2,647 ghost workers in the public service — especially the police force — and thwarted an estimated annual loss of nearly Ksh.1.8 billion.

“In the National Police Service, we found 1,447 people who were receiving salaries but were nowhere to be seen. In the Administration Police (AP), we found 1048 and in the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) we found 152,” he stated.

“These are people who have not been found to date but were being paid. With this (NIIMS), we saved about Ksh.148 million when salaries for this past month were paid; which translates to about Ksh.1.8 billion yearly.”

The Head of State added: “This is why some people are against this exercise, because now they know the gaps they were using to steal money will be no more.”

President Kenyatta further dispelled myths about the Huduma Namba being dismissed by a section of political and religious leaders in the country, urging all citizens to register to enhance the government’s service delivery.

“As a Christian, I was surprised the other day when I heard some priests saying the Huduma Namba is for the devil. Please, let us not give the privileged positions we have been given and the respect our people give us to dispel lies,” said the President.

“This is supposed to improve our ability to provide Kenyans with the service that they truly deserve and desire.”

He also rubbished talk that when one registers for the Huduma Number then it would automatically also test their DNA.

According to President Kenyatta, the number will help young people in schools access their bursaries, and old retired people their pension funds. It will also reduce transaction costs for Kenyans as one will no longer be required to carry multiple identification cards to get such things as driving licences or passports.

He also challenged women leaders, led by Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu, to rise to the occasion and fight for the country’s presidency in coming elections saying “women take care of families, and when you take care of a family you can take care of a nation.”

NIIMS is a mass biometric registration system introduced by the Government to create, manage and store Kenya’s population data.

Biometric data means unique identifiers or attributes including fingerprints, hand geometry, earlobe geometry, retina and iris patterns, voice waves and DNA samples.

The system will require data for Kenyans aged six and above, and foreigners living in the country.

NIIMS will integrate GPS monitoring for persons applying for new identification cards as they will be required to provide information about their postal address, land reference number and plot or house number.

To register, one is required to carry original copies of their identification documents such as ID, birth certificate, driving license, KRA pin and most importantly, their physical presence at the station.

Upon registration, one will be given a Huduma Namba which will assign a personal unique identification to facilitate government services.