CS Ruku Gives Ministries and Counties One Month to Join HRIS or Lose Salary Processing
CS Ruku Issues One-Month Ultimatum to Ministries and Counties as Government Threatens Salary Freeze
The government has issued a stern one-month ultimatum to all ministries, departments, state agencies and county governments to migrate to the Human Resource Information System (HRIS), warning that institutions that fail to comply will have their salary payments halted.
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku announced the directive on Wednesday, July 8, during the handover of the Independent Payroll Audit Report to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), saying the move is part of a major government drive to clean up the public payroll and eliminate long-standing cases of fraud.
The warning means that any public institution that fails to transition to the new digital payroll platform within the stipulated period risks having its employees’ salaries withheld until compliance is achieved.
Ruku said the migration to HRIS is now mandatory for all public institutions, describing it as a critical reform aimed at improving transparency, accountability and oversight of government employees.
“We have issued a circular that all ministries, departments and county governments must be onboarded on the HRIS, and we have given them a period of one month to do so. If they fail to do that within the period, the salaries will not be remitted,” Ruku said.
The Cabinet Secretary noted that the Human Resource Information System will enable the government to maintain a single, accurate database of all public servants, making it easier to detect payroll irregularities, eliminate ghost workers and ensure only legitimate employees receive salaries.
The directive comes as the government intensifies efforts to tighten controls over public expenditure following the completion of an independent payroll audit that uncovered irregularities requiring further investigation.
By handing the audit report to the DCI, the government signalled that suspected payroll fraud cases identified during the exercise could now be subjected to criminal investigations.
According to Ruku, strengthening payroll management is one of the key reforms under the government’s broader public service transformation agenda, which seeks to enhance efficiency while safeguarding taxpayers’ money.
The HRIS is expected to integrate employee records, payroll management and human resource processes into a centralized digital platform, reducing opportunities for manipulation and improving real-time monitoring across national and county governments.
The latest directive now places ministries, state agencies and devolved units under pressure to complete the migration within the next month or face disruption of salary processing for their workforce.
Also Read: Kenya Seeks Global Fund Support to Strengthen SHA and Expand Digital Healthcare