Ghost workers allegations dismissed by PSC

Allegations of ghost workers on the public payroll have been dismissed by Zimbabwe Public Service Commission (PSC)

The Commission's ruling overturns the findings of an independent audit conducted by Ernst and Young India.

The Commission said only a few irregularities were unearthed in its own investigation and the original allegations of 70,000 ghost workers were wrong.

The Zimbabwe Herald newspaper quoted the Commission report as saying those irregularities that did exist occurred in the recruitment of 6,000 Officers by the Ministry of Youth.

Minister for the Public Service, Lucia Matibenga and her deputy, Andrew Langa, declined to comment on the matter saying it was before Cabinet.

However a source, quoting the PSC report, said the alleged ghost workers were in fact real workers who had no qualifications.

"The PSC contends that one person could be counted under more than six categories, a development which inflated the figures," the source said.

"Furthermore, employees in foreign missions were not counted and they also fell under the category of ghost workers."

The source said serving Permanent Secretaries and Principal Directors also fell under the category of ghost workers because they were not counted."

Another source said the PSC also recommended that there should be an introduction of an electronic human resources management system to link up the Salaries Service Bureau, PSC and the Ministries.

Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers Union, Raymond Majongwe said ghost workers could not be disputed and the Commission was trying to cover the matter up.