The Kenyan public service payroll system will undergo a major transformation because the Cabinet approved an emergency wage revision for civil servants based on an audit that discovered numerous payroll errors and fundamental management weaknesses in the Government Human Resource Information System-Kenya (HRIS-K) system. The resolution was passed at a Tuesday meeting chaired by President William Ruto at State House Nairobi.
The audit, which analyzed data from the 2024/2025 financial year, found multiple data inconsistencies that included identity mismatches and tax compliance lapses and incorrect bank account details that were associated with salary payments. The most serious problem emerged when 720 system editors changed more than 4.7 million payroll records because they lacked audit trails that showed their alterations, including their own data modifications.
The Cabinet decision requires HRIS-K to undergo complete operational transformation, which includes mandatory security certification that must be completed by March 11 and the installation of advanced forensic analytics, which will track unauthorized changes, and the full implementation of a statutory deductions module that will guarantee equal tax and levy obligation enforcement across all government entities.
The new system requires principal secretaries to assume direct responsibility for payroll verification because they must check payroll information and help with ongoing audits while being accountable for any unauthorized activities that happen in their work areas. The Payroll Audit Units will implement urgent ICT improvements, which will help strengthen system controls while increasing transparency and protecting public funds from being misused.
Government officials described the system’s previous state as dangerously flawed because it had weak cybersecurity protections and expired digital licenses, and it lacked proper disaster recovery systems, which all together damaged the integrity of public payroll data.
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