HH Removes Ghost Workers From Payrolls

President Hakainde Hichilema has already got to work removing ghost workers from state payrolls, having only been in office for the last seven days.

A recent memorandum of understanding (MOU) released by ZESCO, the state-owned power company, clarified that they would carry out a physical employee verification exercise in a bid to remove ghost workers from their payroll.

“In an effort to ensure that the integrity of our employee data…there is *urgent* need to carry out a *physical employee verification exercise* in all stations countrywide,” the MOU by ZESCO read.

To verify themselves as part of the state-owned organisation, employees must visit their respective stations and sign against their name.

The exercise will be completed by the 13th September, giving employees two weeks to ensure they remain on the payroll.

The request follows several years of ghost workers appearing on government payrolls, causing the state to lose millions of kwacha each month by paying non-existent civil servants. In the past, it had been found that employees who had died were still appearing on these payrolls, having not been removed after their service ended.

This is one of the first steps taken by President Hichilema to fix the crumbling economy which he has inherited, starting off by reducing unnecessary government spending.