Exorcising ghost workers

Thursday, 3 March 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

South Asia and Africa have interesting similarities but when it comes to novel solutions, the latter can bring new perspective to old problems.

Like in Sri Lanka, Nigeria had a change of Government last year where a tough former Army General was elected as Head of State by a population fed up with corruption, mismanagement and wastage. Similar to Sri Lanka, the new Nigerian President pledged to end corruption and plough back wasted funds into development affected by slowing oil prices. And he has daring methods.

Nigeria’s Finance Ministry has announced that it has saved millions of dollars for the cash-strapped Government by removing more than 20,000 “ghost workers” from the State payroll. The eliminated ghost workers represented just a “percentage” of “non-existent” staff who had been receiving monthly wages, highlighting the brazen corruption in Africa’s biggest economy.

Under the new measure the salary bill for February 2016 has reduced by 2.293 billion naira or $11.53 million, according to the Finance Ministry. Officials believe stricter payroll regulation would boost the budget at a time when Nigeria’s State coffers are depleted as a result of the collapse in global oil prices.

Trimming personnel costs is key to funding the Nigerian deficit in the 2016 Budget, as savings made will ultimately reduce the amount to be borrowed. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari announced a record budget in December, promising to stimulate growth and build infrastructure in the oil-rich but import-dependent nation.

An independent organisation, which conducted an audit ahead of the election, found 45,000 ghost workers in just one department of the Nigerian Government; ironically enough, it was the Finance Ministry. Ghost workers are rooted out by using their bank account details, which are then matched with employment and work records at respective branches of Government.

Surely Nigeria’s experiment is an engaging initiative for imaginative Governments? Under the 2016 Budget, the Sri Lankan Government earmarked Rs.1.3 trillion for recurrent expenditure while only Rs. 626 billion was allocated for capital expenditure. The bulk of Government revenue, reserves and fresh borrowings will be funnelled into repaying an estimated $4 billion in loans, which will only push the country further down the debt spiral.

Making a bloated public sector efficient is a cumbersome, time-consuming and ultimately expensive process where good money has to be thrown after bad. If politicians have the will power, then public sector workers can be made to earn their pay or simply told to go home. The numbers alone show the drain of Sri Lanka’s massive public workers salary bill on the State and on Tuesday the Lankadeepa reported that at the Matara Hospital, 150 workers only turn up on payday. This is simply the tip of the iceberg of what happens when public jobs are handed out by politicians in return for votes.

Of course the Nigerian experiment is simplistic and likely to be short-lived if Buhari has any hopes of re-election and rampant slashing of jobs would result in huge poverty increases and other social problems. But the bold effort to send a message cannot be underestimated and ultimately the obsession Sri Lankans have with public sector jobs must wane if the country is to write a new chapter of real development.