Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has announced plans to arrest and prosecute civil servants suspected of payroll fraud, warning that human resource officers implicated in the irregularities will lose their jobs.

Speaking during the 7th CHRP Certification Ceremony 2026 in Nairobi on Friday, October 23, Ruku said arrests would begin within the next 30 days as investigations into suspected payroll fraud across government institutions intensify.

“On matters of payroll, as the Minister in charge, I want to assure Kenyans that I will be extremely firm. Several Human Resources professionals will be taken to court, and they will lose their jobs based on the investigations,” the CS stated.

Ruku singled out the Kenya Prisons Service, saying investigators had identified suspected wrongdoing that would lead to arrests, with other state departments also facing scrutiny.

“Within a period of 30 days, there are those who will be apprehended. I have to say that at Kenya Prisons, we are going to arrest people there and we will be going also to other State Departments,” he added.

The CS warned human resource professionals responsible for managing government payrolls against unethical recruitment practices, including the insertion of ghost workers, saying public funds should not be lost through the actions of individuals entrusted with managing them.

He further claimed that investigative agencies had uncovered a network of individuals involved in the suspected irregularities and obtained records that would be used to support prosecutions.

CEOs Put on Notice

Ruku also turned his attention to chief executive officers of state parastatals , warning that organisations that had failed to migrate to the government's Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and process salaries through the designated payroll system would face consequences.

“Any CEO of a public parastatal whose organisation has not onboarded on the new Human Resource Management Information System and is not paying salaries through our payroll system should know that next week I will announce the list of shame,” he warned.

The CS said chief executives serving under his ministry could face administrative action, including dismissal, while those heading institutions outside his ministry would be publicly named if their organisations failed to comply with the directive.

The warning comes after Ruku announced on Friday, October 16, that 84 human resource officers had lost access to the government payroll system and would be placed on mandatory 30-day leave to facilitate investigations into suspected irregular transactions.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had flagged suspected payroll irregularities involving the Ministry of Health, Kenya Police Service and Kenya Prisons Service. A forensic audit presented to the government also identified suspected irregularities amounting to Ksh6.2 billion in 12 of 53 state departments examined.

The Cabinet subsequently directed the DCI to investigate the suspected fraud, verify personal numbers used in payroll processing, and pursue those found responsible in accordance with the law.