Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has directed 84 human resource officers from the Kenya Prisons Service, Kenya Police Service and two State Departments in the Ministry of Health to step aside for 30 working days over suspected payroll fraud.
The directive follows findings from the 2025 Public Service Payroll Audit and a report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) dated October 7, 2026, which identified suspected irregular payroll transactions in the affected departments.
Ruku has also ordered the immediate withdrawal of the officers’ access rights to payroll systems as investigations and administrative processes proceed.
He directed the relevant principal secretaries and accounting officers to take lawful administrative measures to safeguard public resources, preserve evidence and address vulnerabilities in the payroll systems.
To prevent disruption of salary payments, the government will deploy replacement human resource managers and grant them the necessary access to payroll systems.
The Cabinet Secretary emphasised that any disciplinary action against the affected officers must be guided by available evidence, applicable laws and the legal authority of the officials responsible for making such decisions.
The officers’ removal from duty is an administrative measure, and the suspected payroll irregularities remain subject to investigation and due process.
