By Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State government has uncovered ghost workers in the local government system involving 838 cemetery keepers who are receiving CONHESS from the state government on the pretext of keeping cemeteries while there are no cemeteries in the state.
The state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Samuel Okoronkwo, disclosed this to newsmen in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.
The commissioner also refuted rumours that the state government was planning to sack medical workers in the local government system, noting that what the state government was doing was to find out the workers who are not health workers, but are earning salaries under the Consolidated Health salary Structure (CONHESS).
According to him, investigation so far has revealed that previous administrations in the state fraudulently employed about 838 workers as cemetery keepers even while there was no cemetery in the 13 local government areas managed by the state government.
He said, “The only cemetery in the state is in Abakaliki and it is being managed by the Catholic Church. So what are the cemetery keepers doing. Why are they earning CONHESS?.
“So this people have no work schedule, they don’t go to work but take very high salary at the end of the month more than those who are actually working. That is fraudulent and this government will not allow it to continue.”
He assured that the affected workers would not be sacked but will be removed from the CONHESS and reposted to other areas in the local government where they will be useful.
The commissioner said that a Committee had been set up to look into the issue with members drawn from various unions and government.
Okoronkwo further stated that the ministry would also embark on screening of certificates, having discovered that many workers in the local government system hold fake certificates.