Govt declares war on ghost workers

…Orders extensive audit into public service, SOEs

By Marianne Nghidengwa and Patience Nyangove 

AN extensive audit into public sector work- ers and employees of state-owned enter- prises has unearthed worrying details of how government lost “significant” amounts of money – suspected to run into hundreds of mil- lions of dollars in salaries, pension deductions and payouts, medical aid deductions and pay- outs of an army of ghost workers that include deceased, retired and dismissed public servants. 

Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein this week revealed that government had ordered the exten- sive audit of public service personnel to root out ghost workers as it intensifies efforts to curb its burgeoning N$29.9 billion annual wage bill that swallows up nearly 50 percent of the country’s national budget. 

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