An audit of Zimbabwe's civil service being conducted by the Indian branch of global consulting firm Ernst & Young will be concluded by the end of August, helping officials purge the system of abuses, a minister said Monday.
Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro said Ernst & Young are close to finalizing the audit.
Earlier this year a report by the comptroller and auditor general revealed shocking abuses of public funds and state assets by various ministries. The report pointed in particular to the recruitment of more than 10,000 ZANU-PF youths by the Ministry of Youth which put them on the government payroll as ward youth officers during 2008.
The International Monetary Fund has urged the Harare government to sweep the public service system clean of so-called ghost workers who do not show up to work or may not even exist.
