Governance experts and workers’ representatives have welcomed government’s planned payroll audit and physical headcount of civil servants, but have cautioned that the exercise should be transparent and accompanied by deeper reforms.
Speaking when he presented the 2025/26 Mid-Year Budget Review Statement on Friday, Minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamvekha announced that public servants will be required to present themselves physically for the headcount and submit all relevant documentation starting on December 9 2025.
Civil Servants Trade Union
(CSTU) secretary general Titha Gomani and Malawi Congress of Trade Unions secretary general Charles Kumchenga said yesterday that a transparent headcount can expose any ghost workers that have been draining public funds.
However, Gomani said the exercise should not be used to victimise legitimate workers, urging the government to involve CSTU during planning, development of headcount forms and review of the results.
She said: “By working together, the audit can achieve its goal of a leaner, more credible payroll while protecting the jobs of the workers who keep Malawi’s public services running.”
On his part, Kumchenga stressed the need for the exercise to be free from politicization and that it should not target certain groups unfairly.
Governance experts Willy Kambwandira and George Chaima described the exercise as a long overdue intervention but called for additional measures to clean up the country’s public service payroll.
On his part, Chaima said the government should ensure that officers behind the registration of ghost workers are prosecuted.
The audit comes after the government also announced a moratorium on new recruitments except for key sectors that will be approved on a case by case basis.
Duri ng the budge t presentation, Mwanamvekha reported that spending on wages and salaries exceeded the mid-year target of K661.5 billion by K125.9 billion.
As a result, the 2025/26 fiscal year wage bill has been increased by K98.5 billion, from K1.53 trillion to K1.63 trillion.
In 2021, the Department of Human Resource Management and Development audited 208 718 employees in the mainstream c Malawi belongs to everyone ivil service and governance institutions
