NAIROBI, Kenya, June 18 – A new government audit has revealed that Sh2.08 billion in salaries owed to university staff in the 2023/2024 financial year remains unpaid, exposing significant financial and ethical lapses within public institutions.
The audit, covering the year ending June 30, 2024, shows that 2,066 public officers—mostly drawn from public universities—did not receive their salaries during the period.
The total amount owed to these staff members was Sh2.49 billion, with university personnel accounting for 84 percent of the outstanding pay.
According to the report, institutions cited a range of reasons for the non-payment. Financial constraints were the most common, affecting 1,494 officers (72 percent), while 372 officers (18 percent) had pending disciplinary cases.
Beyond financial mismanagement, the audit exposed worrying gaps in human resource integrity.
Out of 168,667 public officers whose documents were reviewed, 859 (0.5 percent) were found to possess fake academic certificates, while another 160 (0.1 percent) had forged professional qualifications.
Even more troubling, 24,559 officers (14.6 percent) held unauthenticated academic documents, and for 143,249 officers (84.9 percent), the authenticity of their academic papers had not been verified at all.
“In regard to high standards of professional ethics, findings revealed critical gaps in both compliance and enforcement,” the audit report stated.
Disciplinary action was taken against 744 of the 1,019 officers found with fraudulent documents. However, 79 cases (7.8 percent) remain under investigation, and 15 officers (1.5 percent) have faced no action to date.
The audit’s revelations are expected to prompt heightened scrutiny of payroll management and hiring practices across public service, particularly in the education sector.
