Police in Homa Bay County have pounced on 10 suspected county ghost workers scrambling to forge employment letters and contracts at cyber cafés within the county.

The staff members thronged cyber cafes in pursuit of documents that would have them keep their jobs after the Human Resource Department of the Gladys Wanga administration embarked on an impromptu audit of the workers’ register.

“… The exercise focused on the verification of County employees and payroll data. The other two phases will include setting up a clear staff establishment for the County’s public service and putting in place a Human Resource Management System that will serve the people of Homa Bay County beyond us,” the county government said of the audit.

County officials teamed up with the police and pounced on them at the cyber cafes, locking them up at the Homa Bay Central Police Station for further interrogation.

In the audit, the digital footprints of employees were also examined. It came out that 129 persons lacked files in the county registration. They too, did not submit any relevant documents.

According to the report, 322 individuals wrecking in salaries from the county coffers do not have the necessary academic qualifications. They too, lacked licences from the relevant professional bodies.

“Those whose certificates KNEC confirmed as inauthentic were 479 individuals in the payroll earning but cannot be traced to the signed departmental HR lists,” the county revealed.

The report reveals that 556 employees did not present appointment letters or contracts and 287 persons did not take part in the verification process, altogether.