Civil service audit complete

Ernst and Young of India and dismissed allegations of ghost workers.
Only a few irregularities were unearthed.
The draft report is expected to be presented to President Mugabe before it is sent to Cabinet.
Public Service Minister Lucia Matibenga and her deputy Andrew Langa, yesterday declined comment on the matter, adding the issue was before Cabinet.
“I cannot comment on the issue now because it is before Cabinet. I cannot breach Cabinet rules on confidentiality. You will be advised soon when it can be said in public,” Minister Matibenga said.
Deputy Minister Langa added: “We can’t discuss what is happening because this assignment came from Cabinet and I cannot jump the gun by commenting.”
However, sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the PSC discovered that the alleged 70 000 ghost workers cited in the Ernst and Young report did not exist.
“According to the PSC report, the alleged ghost workers was a cumulative figure of individuals found to have no qualification, police and medical clearance,” said a source.
“The PSC contend that one person could be counted under more than six categories, a development which inflated the figures. Furthermore, employees in foreign missions were not enumerated and they also fell under the category of ghost workers.
“Serving Permanent Secretaries and Principal Directors also fell under the category of ghost workers because they were not enumerated.”
Another source said the PSC had, however, discovered isolated cases of employees who absented themselves during the initial exercise by Ernst and Young.
“It was noted that there were irregularities in the recruitment of youth officers under the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, a situation that still presents a challenge.
“An estimated 6 000 youth officers have been cited in the report as having been all recruited on 28 May 2008 and the MDC-T claim to have evidence that these youth officers were used to campaign for Zanu-PF ahead of the 2008 re-run elections,” a source said.
According to the source, it was claimed that these officers did not possess five Ordinary Levels, which is the requirement for grade B1 in which they were classified.
It is understood that the PSC also recommended that there should be the introduction of an Electronic Human Resources Management System to link up Salaries Service Bureau, PSC and the Ministries.
In 2010, Ernst and Young auditors claimed that there were thousands of ghost workers who were on the Government payroll.
The PSC disputed the claims, which led to Cabinet ordering the PSC to verify the report.
Basing on the Ernst and Young results, Finance Minister Tendai Biti is on record saying the implementation of the skills audit report would lead to significant increases in the salaries of Government workers.
Minister Biti has been arguing that increasing salaries would result in alleged ghost workers also making rich pickings when they were not employed by the State.