By Samson Wire
On Tuesday, 26th May 2026, the County Government of Siaya held a high-level meeting with the National Government’s State Department of Public Service and Human Capital Development to address the longstanding issue of Unique Personal Numbers (UPN).
The meeting, which brought together county executives from the Departments of Governance, Administration and ICT, Trade, Enterprise, Cooperatives and Industrialization, Agriculture, Livestock, Food Security and Blue Economy, as well as Tourism, Sports, Culture and Arts, and officials from the State Department of Public Service and Human Capital Development led by Head of Human Resources Information System (HRIS), Madam Anne Njagi, sought to resolve the payroll challenges that have resulted in delayed salaries for officers without UPNs.
The Controller of Budget, through a circular issued earlier this year, prohibited the payment of staff using the manual payroll system. This directive has left hundreds of county staff without their March and April salaries.
In a bid to resolve the impasse, the County Government of Siaya requested the State Department of Public Service and Human Capital Development to fast-track the issuance of UPNs and provide technical support to officers in submitting the required documents, including National Identity Card, birth certificate, passport – size photo, KRA Pin, employment details such as offer letter, appointment letter, deployment letters, and academic certificates.
The meeting witnessed the release of several previously stalled UPN numbers, some of which were processed during the session.
After detailed and cordial deliberations, both teams agreed on a clear way forward, focusing on the following key areas:
- Issuance of payroll numbers – with a deadline set for 10th June 2026.
- Fast-tracking of 19 old pending cases, some involving reactivation of officers previously employed elsewhere who had not attached their last pay certificates.
- Fast-tracking the integration of staff whose UPN numbers have already been released.
- Immediate processing of all staff currently on manual payroll, to be integrated into the June 2026 payroll by 18th June 2026, together with the payment of all arrears owed for the unpaid months of March and April.
- Onboarding of all casual workers onto the HRIS system, with their arrears to be processed in the June payroll.
The meeting forms part of a series of engagements following a directive by the National Treasury Principal Secretary, Dr. Chris Kiptoo, instructing all county governments to process April 2026 salaries and all subsequent payrolls exclusively through the integrated HRIS-Kenya Payroll System, linked to the IFMIS platform. The system automates statutory deductions such as PAYE, SHA contributions, NSSF, and pensions, and remits them directly to the relevant institutions.
The directive seeks to eliminate ghost workers, reduce payroll leakages, centralize payroll management, and ensure direct payments from Central Bank accounts.
Chief Officer for Agriculture, Livestock, Food Security and Blue Economy Mrs. Elizabeth Adongo, who served as the main rapporteur and the convenor of the meeting, expressed gratitude to the DPSM team — her former colleagues from the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs where she previously served. It is riding on this strong relationship that she was able to facilitate Siaya County’s convening of this critical meeting.
The meeting was attended by: CECMs: Mr. Joseph Rading (Governance, Administration and ICT), Dr. Kut Ochogo (Tourism, Sports, Culture and Arts), Mrs. Christine Jenifer Akinyi Oyuu (Trade, Enterprise, Cooperatives and Industrialization), Chief Officers: Mrs. Maurine Awuor (ICT and Public Service Transformation), Hon. Walter Okelo (Governance and Administration), Mr. Wilfred Nyagudi (Tourism, Sports, Arts and Culture), Dr. Samuel Omondi Owino (Health and Sanitation), Director of Human Resource Management: Mrs. Susan Rabah, Payroll Manager Mr. Jeconia Omondi, Director of Education and UPN System Authorizer Mr. Steven Opiyo, Deputy Director of Finance Mr. Cornel Odhiambo among other senior staff.