The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly has called for a forensic audit of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) payroll following allegations of malpractices within the payment system for tutors. Here are the key highlights from the committee’s recent sitting:
Allegations and Concerns:
- The PAC, chaired by Nominated MP John Mbadi, expressed concerns over potential malpractices in the TSC payroll system.
- Auditor General Nancy Gathungu revealed instances of overpayment of leave allowances and salaries to teachers and staff, amounting to Ksh980,000 in total.
- TSC reported spending Ksh352 million on salaries in FY2020/2021, with Ksh114 million attributed to overpayments.
Call for Forensic Audit:
- PAC emphasized the need for a forensic audit to thoroughly investigate and root out any malpractices within the TSC payroll system.
- Nominated MP John Mbadi stressed the importance of understanding the issues with the payroll system through a forensic audit to prompt necessary reviews and improvements.
CEO’s Response:
- Dr. Nancy Macharia, CEO of TSC, attributed the overpayments to inefficient reporting systems, particularly due to the manual nature of operations.
- Macharia highlighted delays in stopping salary payments upon events like death, resignation, and absenteeism, contributing to the overpayments.
- She acknowledged concerns about the lack of a medical cover for staff, attributing the delay in procurement to delayed funds disbursement from the Treasury.
Remedial Measures:
- TSC has developed an overpayment policy and introduced online services to enhance efficiency in handling issues such as death, resignation, and absenteeism for better payroll management.
- Macharia assured the committee of efforts to digitize systems to address gaps contributing to salary overpayments and improve overall payroll efficiency.
Committee’s Demands:
- The committee demanded that TSC expedite the adoption of a digitized system to address loopholes leading to salary overpayments and mitigate concerns about salary delays reported by some teachers.
