Nyamira County has about 1,000 ghost workers from a pool of 4,805 county staff, Governor Amos Nyaribo said.
Appearing before the Senate County Public Account Committee, the governor also admitted the county is grappling with irregular recruitment and promotions of staff.
This is in addition to having excess employees, especially in the lower cadre of the staff pyramid.
Mr Nyaribo told the committee that they have between 500 and 1,000 ghost workers and they have already initiated a staff audit.
"It is true we have not kept personnel in order and the EACC is on the ground over the issue. We have between 500 and 1,000 ghost workers," said Mr Nyaribo.
"We have engaged a private firm from the directorate of personnel management to carry out the audit with the report to be out in a month's time," he added.
The governor said the audit will also focus on irregular promotions where some staff have been employed and promoted without requisite qualifications.
EACC representative said the anti-graft agency 2020 report identified irregular recruitments, most staff were being paid outside the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Database (IPPD) and the county did not have a staff skill audit.
According to the Auditor General's report for the financial year ended June 2020, the county government was faulted for irregularities in personnel management leading to an unsustainable wage bill.
The damning report revealed that the compensation of employees amounted to Sh2.7 billion representing 45 percent of the county's total expenditure of Sh6 billion that year.
The proportion exceeds the ratio of 35 percent set in regulation 25(1)(b) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015.
On payment of salaries outside IPPD, the audit report indicated that Sh22.4 million was processed and paid manually.
"No explanation was provided by management for the use of the manual system that is not only less efficient but is more prone to error, misuse, and fraud," read in part of the report.
The county government is also on the spot for filling positions, not in approved establishments where 862 employees held posts that were not in the approved staff establishment.
Payments for emoluments to the respective staff totaled Sh27.5 million during the year under review.
In appointing staff to posts not provided for in the approved establishment, the audit faulted the county going contrary to Section B.5(2) of the County Public Service Human Resource manual which provides that job vacancies should only be declared for posts that are in the authorized establishment.
"Consequently, the compensation of employee’s expenditure totaling Sh27,518,135 spent on the staff employed in unauthorized posts was irregular."
