Mps Grill TSC CEO Nancy Macharia Over Skyrocketing TSC Payroll of Ksh466M
Mps Grill TSC CEO Nancy Macharia Over Skyrocketing TSC Payroll of Ksh466M. Members of the National Assembly are now calling for a forensic audit of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) salary system amid rising expenses related to salary overpayments. TSC Payroll Audit.
The bid to audit the public service teacher employer gained momentum on Tuesday after the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) grilled TSC CEO Nancy Macharia over the Sh466 million earmarked by the Auditor General for the 2021/2022 financial year.
Macharia explained that the overpayments had increased over the years due to an inefficient reporting system which she said remained manual. TSC Payroll Audit.
“The overpayment of salary arose as a result of delay in stopping the salary of employees on death, desertion, resignation, transfer of services, incapacity, suspension and absence,” Macharia said.
In the 2020/2021 fiscal year, TSC reported spending Sh352 million on salaries, of which Sh114 was from overpayment.
Reluctance to recover funds
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu pointed out that the TSC has not demonstrated an effort to recover salary overpayments, which signals a reluctance to recover these funds.
MPs raised concerns about why the state commission failed to deal with the overpayments in two subsequent years, questioning whether TSC officials colluded to steal from the public purse.
“If we feel there is a problem with the TSC payroll system, there is nothing stopping us from asking for a forensic audit to understand it and ask for a review,” Mbadi said.
Funyula MP Oundo Mudenyo has insisted on an in-depth review of the TSC payroll system to address systemic issues that have led to the loss of public funds. TSC Payroll Audit.
“There seem to be many challenges. In my constituency, some teachers do not go to school for the whole year and are fully paid,” Mudenyo said.
The TSC CEO told agitated MPs that the commission had developed an overpayment policy and an online service to improve efficiency with regard to deaths, resignations, desertion from service as well as absenteeism to facilitate salary clearing.
Soy MP David Kiplagat has voiced his reservations that the state commission must adopt a digitized system to close loopholes that have led to overpayment of salaries while some teachers are complaining of salary delays.