Gov't developing mobile app to monitor civil servants, CS Ruku announces

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has announced that the government is working to develop a mobile application to monitor civil servants' activities and movements.

Speaking on Wednesday during an event in Samburu County where he decried absenteeism and lateness by civil servants around the country, CS Ruku said the app will provide updates on reporting times by public officers, further recording those who fail to show up for work.

The CS added that downloading the application will be mandatory for all civil servants in Kenya so as to improve service delivery by the government to its citizens and residents alike.

“Very soon, I have embarked with the ministry to ensure we are going to come up with a mobile application where every civil servant in the Republic of Kenya will download that application and that application will be able to tell us whether you are at the work station, whether you are on leave, whether you are at a workshop and what you are doing, what time you reported to your work, what time you left your work station, whether you are in a medical, paternity or maternity leave,” he said.

The new development comes after the CS conducted an impromptu visit to the Central Regional Headquarters in Nyeri earlier in the week, where he observed that different departments in the facility had a contrasting number of employees present at their work stations.

He announced that absent or civil servants who fail to report for duty on time will be treated as ghost workers. This could see public officials subjected to legal consequences as ghost-working constitutes defrauding the employer and one found guilty of the said crime is liable for fines or jail time or both.

CS Ruku intensified his unannounced visits to government offices to inspect whether workers are present and how efficient are they working to deliver essential services to Kenyans.

This move, according to Ruku, is part of the Kenya Kwanza government’s mission to honor its manifesto.