Siaya County's Public Service Board is under scrutiny over alleged irregular recruitment, bribery and abuse of office, with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) launching investigations into the issue.
This follows explosive claims that more than 500 health workers were allegedly hired without proper authorisation or due process.
Preliminary reports indicate that some job seekers were asked to pay bribes between Ksh300,000 and Ksh350,000 in exchange for appointment letters.
As a result, unauthorised appointments were made and exceeded the number of health workers approved for recruitment by the county government, suggesting there are several 'ghost workers' who received appointment letters.
Nyanza region EACC manager Abraham Kemboi flagged the recruitment as he raised concerns on transparency and accountability in the recruitment process in Siaya County.
"As a commission, we have moved in to investigate that scandal," Kemboi said. "In fact, we had attempted to do so before, but there was no cooperation from the affected Kenyans."
Kemboi further revealed that a comprehensive investigation into the issue would kick off on Thursday, September 25, and the persons responsible for the irregular hiring would be brought to book.
The manager noted that the county had not officially requested the recruitment of 500 health workers and described the effort to hire them as an illegal attempt to sneak them into the system.
"The commission will take appropriate action, and those who engineered this scam will be brought to book," he added.
This is the latest incident involving the hiring of ghost workers, with the healthcare sector once again coming into focus over irregular recruitment practices.
In August, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale warned that workers found to have been paid over the years without performing any duties will be prosecuted and compelled to reimburse all their earnings.
To curb the issue of ghost workers, Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku also recently revealed that the government is done compiling the names of all ghost workers, with the list expected to be published.
The CS added that stern action would be taken against those who would be found to have acted against the law by consistently failing to perform their duties.
