Gov't targets absentee public servants with new tracking app
The CS said public officers must uphold the same level of commitment as the country’s top leadership, noting that many Kenyans are left waiting due to late reporting and absenteeism in government offices.
The government is taking a tougher stance on absenteeism among civil servants by introducing a mobile application that will monitor their daily attendance and activities, Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has said.
Ruku, who spoke while on a visit to Samburu, revealed that all public officers will be required to download and use the app, which will help track their arrival and departure times, location during working hours, and whether they are on leave, at workshops, or active at their stations.
“The ministry has embarked on a project to ensure we come up with a mobile application, which every civil servant in the republic will download and it will be able to tell us whether you are at your work station, on leave, at the workshop and what you are doing, what time you reported to your station, what time you left, whether you are on maternity or paternity leave,” Ruku said on Thursday.
He said public officers must uphold the same level of commitment as the country’s top leadership, noting that many Kenyans are left waiting due to late reporting and absenteeism in government offices.
“Anyone drawing a salary from the government must be responsible like the President is responsible. Everyone must take their jobs seriously, that is the only way we can develop our nation,” he added.
Ruku made the remarks after conducting unannounced visits to various government offices across the country, where he found some offices still locked at 8 am. The most recent case was in Nyeri, where citizens were left stranded outside closed offices.
“I want to urge all public servants to ensure they serve the people of Kenyans diligently, get to their work stations on time. I have been in various places and I have noticed some weakness among them reporting late and absenteeism,” he said.
He warned that civil servants who fail to report to duty on time or those who disappear after clocking in will be labelled as ghost workers and face removal from the payroll.
“Everybody working in any government office who doesn’t report to work at the required time, and those who report and disappear, we will be treating them as ghost workers,” Ruku warned.
