Ghostbusting saves Uganda’s public money
30 May 2008
Related page: Uganda country profile
 Over recent years in Uganda, shadowy public sector employees have cost the
Government huge amounts of money. But the problem isn't that these workers have
been throwing away public funds through wastefulness or negligence - it's more
that they don't actually exist.
Public sector payrolls are littered with the names of non-existent staff -
otherwise known as "ghost workers". Money that could be going to Uganda's poor
has gone instead, through these phantom civil servants, into the bank accounts
of the corrupt.
In a drive to clean up the country's public offices, in 2005 the Ugandan
President ordered a thorough clean-out of civil service payrolls. This was part
of wider reforms, backed by DFID, aimed at creating a smoother running, more
effective public sector.
Counting the ghosts
Before serious ghostbusting could get under way, it was necessary to find out how
many people really were employed as public servants. A wide-ranging audit,
carried out by Government accounting officers, found that, out of 230,000
individual records, around 9,000 belonged to ghost workers.
A lack of rigorous checks, caused by poor management and limited resources,
had allowed these non-existent employees to creep onto the payroll. And
this wasn't the only problem that inefficiency and under-resourcing had created: overall reform
of the pay system was being held up, leaving many genuine
employees dissatisfied with their jobs and working conditions.
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Millions recovered
Action was needed, not only to rid the Government payroll of illegitimate
claims, but to improve morale throughout the public sector. Eradicating current
ghost workers, and ensuring they didn't crop up in the future, was the first
task.
So far, £12 million has been saved by weeding out these false claimants. This
works out at about £6 million annually, which is enough to provide 1,000
children with three meals a day for over a year. The money saved has gone
towards other public services, while efforts are continuing to recover outstanding funds,
with the Ugandan people keeping a close eye on progress.
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Rewarding good work
In addition, a quarterly audit of the Government payroll, across all
ministries, has been put in place. This will eventually give way to a new,
stronger pay system, which will help monitor accounts for errors and corrupt
practices, and improve payroll management. It should stop the ghosts from
reappearing.
Also, for the very first time, the Ugandan public sector has brought in a
reward and recognition scheme. This gives staff something concrete
to work for, and dissuades them from helping themselves to public funds. And to
ensure better planning, the annual budget now has more of a focus on how results
will be delivered.
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Serving the public
A well-managed public sector is essential for Uganda's future. If corruption
and inefficiency are left to take hold, it will be the people of Uganda who
suffer. Now that steps have been taken in the right direction, it is vital that
progress isn't thrown off course.
The Government must see that the new pay policy for civil servants is
implemented, and that public sector resources are put to their proper use.
Incentives should also be given to attract frontline staff, especially in health
and education, to remote and rural areas.
Keeping the Government accountable to the Ugandan people is also hugely
important - client service charters, which set out Government commitments to
citizens, are one way of doing this.
Many of Uganda's ghost workers have now been banished, but to make sure that
Uganda doesn't go on being haunted by a corrupt and underperforming public
sector, the reforming zeal must be kept alive.
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Facts and stats
- The Public Service Reform Programme 2005-10 (PSRP) was approved by
the Ugandan
Cabinet in March 2006.
- DFID is contributing £6.5 million to the PSRP. Other partners
include the World Bank, Ireland and Denmark.
- International studies suggest improvements in corruption in Uganda
in recent years. Uganda’s score in
 Transparency International’s
Corruption Perceptions Index has improved from 1.9 in 2001 to 2.7 in 2006 and 2.8 in 2007.
The World Bank’s Global Governance Indicators show a similar improvement over the last decade.
- The public sector wage-bill totals about 5% of the country’s GDP, equivalent to 25% of
the national budget. If pay reform targets were to be met, the wage-bill would
be about 7% of GDP.
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