Government Verifies 199,000 Civil Servants in Headcount Exercise, Irregularities Surface

The Department of Human Resource Management and Development says it has verified 199,000 civil servants out of an estimated 292,000 employees in the first phase of the ongoing civil service headcount exercise, marking significant progress in a process aimed at cleaning up the government payroll.

Officials disclosed the figures when they briefed the Public Appointments Committee of Parliament, stating that the verified workers represent about 68 percent of the total civil service workforce as of the end of February.

According to the department, the verification exercise has so far covered 28 district councils, with authorities pushing to complete the remaining checks in the coming phases.

Speaking in an interview with Malawi Institute of Journalism (MIJ) Online, Secretary for Human Resource Management and Development Hilario Chimota said the exercise has already exposed a number of irregularities within the civil service system.

Chimota said some employees who presented themselves for verification could not produce confirmation or appointment letters, raising questions about their employment status.

“We have also noted discrepancies in salaries and allowances among some officers,” Chimota said, adding that the findings highlight the need for stronger administrative controls within government institutions.

The verification exercise is part of a broader effort by government to establish an accurate database of civil servants, eliminate potential ghost workers, and ensure that public funds are paid only to legitimately employed staff.

Beyond serving civil servants, the department is also planning another major verification exercise targeting about 47,000 pensioners.

Chimota said the planned verification will determine whether the pensioners are still alive or if relatives are illegally collecting their monthly pension benefits.

Government pension payments are typically made on the 14th of every month, and authorities suspect that loopholes in the system may have allowed some families to continue receiving benefits on behalf of deceased pensioners.

“We want to establish the status of these pensioners so that the system only pays those who are genuinely entitled,” Chimota said.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Public Appointments Committee, Felix Njawala, has commended the department for undertaking the exercise.

Njawala said the headcount initiative is a crucial step toward restoring discipline and order in the civil service, particularly by addressing long-standing concerns about ghost workers inflating the government wage bill.

“This exercise will help bring sanity to the public service. We need to ensure that government is paying real employees for real work, not ghosts,” Njawala said.

With more than two-thirds of the workforce already verified, authorities say the exercise is gradually painting a clearer picture of the true size and structure of Malawi’s civil service, a key factor in managing the country’s public expenditure.

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