Parliament’s staff verification exercise has ended after a one-day extension, with sources alleging that some employees failed to appear while others lacked academic documents, raising questions about recruitment practices and payroll integrity.
The validation and verification exercise for Parliament staff has been completed by an independent committee from the Public Service Commission following a one-day extension.
However, sources on the committee said some staff members had failed to appear for verification, raising questions about their employment status, while others reportedly turned up without academic documents.
“Some staff have not appeared at all. That confirms that Parliament had ghost workers on its payroll, while others came without any academic documents,” a committee source told this publication.
Although the exercise has ended, the status of staff who failed to appear and those who could not produce the required documents remains unclear pending the outcome of the verification process.
Some employees reportedly told police that their academic documents had gone missing or had been stolen.
The findings have sparked calls among some Members of Parliament for disciplinary action against staff whose qualifications or employment records cannot be verified.
“It is time to clean up Parliament. All those with questionable credentials must be dismissed because they have weakened our systems and tainted the dignity of this institution,” one MP said.
The legislators also raised concerns about alleged favouritism in recruitment, claiming that some employees who recently joined Parliament had connections to senior government officials, prominent city businessmen, judges, ministers and MPs.
They argued that such recruitment practices could disadvantage qualified applicants from less privileged backgrounds.
“Most of these staff were brought here because they know someone big in government, a businessman, a judge, a Minister or even an MP. What about the child of a poor person? They cannot get a job in Parliament,” another legislator said.
The MPs want Parliament to review its recruitment framework to strengthen transparency, accountability and merit-based appointments.
“We want Parliament to redeem its image. We must reform the laws that govern the recruitment of staff in Parliament to make it transparent and merit-based,” the MP added.
Sources also alleged that recruitment during the 11th Parliament was influenced by personal relationships, with some commissioners reportedly securing jobs for relatives and romantic partners.
One source claimed that a commissioner had recruited seven siblings without following the required procedures, while other commissioners were accused of recruiting girlfriends.
“In the 11th Parliament, the recruitment was personal. Some Commissioners brought in their girlfriends, relatives, and one Commissioner recruited seven of her siblings without any interviews,” the source said.
The allegations raise questions about compliance with recruitment procedures and the safeguards in place to prevent nepotism and conflicts of interest in Parliament’s staffing process.
The outcome of the verification exercise is expected to clarify the employment status of staff who failed to appear and establish whether any irregularities occurred in their recruitment or documentation.