Gov’t to begin tracking civil servants’ work hours, attendance via an app

The government is developing an application to monitor the productivity of all civil servants, Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has said.

The platform will track staff’s arrival and departure times, leave status, and real-time attendance, the minister says, to boost efficiency, accountability, and transparency across all government offices.

“We must raise our standards to serve the people better,” Ruku told staff at the Eastern Region headquarters in Embu Town on Monday. “Lateness and laxity will no longer be tolerated in government offices.”

Ruku said the app, which he hailed as a "game changer" in tackling absenteeism and monitoring work output, will be live by the end of October.

Employee monitoring applications, common in private organisations, are used to track employee work hours, activity on their computers, and in some cases their location.

The platforms, such as those from the U.S. software makers Hubstaff and Teramind, offer time tracking, productivity analysis, and reporting to help businesses manage remote teams, enforce compliance in industries like finance or healthcare, and identify workflow inefficiencies.

“People in the private sector… understand that success requires hard work. Public servants must match that energy if we are serious about national transformation,” Ruku said.

He pointed out disparities in staff punctuality during his Monday visit, noting that while staff in Embu’s Huduma Centre and the Immigration Department reported early, their Lands Department counterparts fell short.

“At the Lands office, only one staff member and a cleaner were present by 8 a.m. We cannot condone such negligence. Public officers must take responsibility,” Ruku said.

Some of the late staff were locked out of their offices, and the CS said similar disciplinary measures will continue until full compliance is achieved.