The incident, he said, exposed deeper problems in county payroll systems.
Kajwang spoke during a radio interview, where he reflected on the growing wage bill crisis facing many counties.
He recalled that the episode followed an audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which reviewed Homa Bay County’s staff records.
The report identified several employees whose documentation was either incomplete or missing.
The situation took an unexpected turn when Governor Wanga noticed that her own name had been listed.
According to Kajwang, she had initially supported the findings of the report, only to question it after discovering her name among those flagged.
He clarified that the governor was not listed as a ghost worker in the usual sense. Instead, her name appeared under employees whose paperwork was incomplete.
The discovery raised concerns about the accuracy of the audit and how the data had been interpreted. The report was later taken back for review after the issues were noted.
Kajwang used the story to highlight broader financial challenges facing the county.
He warned that Homa Bay’s wage bill now stands at about 55 percent of total revenue, far above the recommended ceiling of 35 percent.
Such a high wage bill, he said, leaves little room for development projects and essential services.
The senator’s remarks come as the Senate Public Accounts Committee intensifies scrutiny of county finances.
Lawmakers continue to focus on ghost workers, inflated payrolls, and procurement irregularities that have strained county budgets across the country.
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