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International Journal of Development Research

ISSN: 2230-9926 Vol. 13, Issue, 12, pp. 64378-64382, December, 2023
https://doi.org/10.37118/ijdr.27537.12.2023

RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PAYROLL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

MODEL: A CASE OF MAYUGE DISTRICT
Onyango Laban Oliver Owin1*, Babirye Saniya2 and Bukoli Herbertson2
1Schoolof Computing and Informatics, Bugema University, PO box 6529, Kampala, Uganda
2Graduate Student, School of Computing and Informatics, Bugema University, PO box 6529, Kampala, Uganda
.

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

ArticleHistory:
Article History: The salary payment of local government workers constitutes a significant percentage of total
th
Received
Received 17 September,
xxxxxx, 2019 2023 government expenditure in Uganda, simply because the government remains the largest or biggest
Received
Received in
in revised
revised form
form employer. The government payroll system, therefore, requires a robust control mechanism to
th
20 October,
xxxxxxxx, 2023
2019 detect and prevent the occurrence of ghost workers and payroll fraud, as the irregularity denies the
th
Accepted
Accepted 14 November,
xxxxxxxxx, 2023
2019 state of huge sums of monies going into private pockets which could have otherwise been
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Published
Published online
online 28 December,
xxxxx, 2019 2023 channeled into some critical sectors of the economy. The main objective was to develop a payroll
Key Words: Management information System model for Local governmentsand this was achieved, the
research adopted design science methodology, data was collected using face to face interview
IPPS model. where many loopholes were discovered in the existing system like double entry, no proper
checking of entered information and also possibility of higher authority being in position to access
accounts of the district officials and make changes. An improved model was developed to curb all
the irregularities in the findings, the model was tested by use of a prototype and hence there is
*Corresponding author:
need to develop a fully functioning system from the developed model but should be piloted in one
Onyango Laban Oliver Owin
district before rolling it out to all local government administrative units.

Copyright©2023, Onyango Laban Oliver Owin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Citation: Onyango Laban Oliver Owin, Babirye Saniya and Bukoli Herbertson. 2023. “Local government payroll management information system model:
a case of mayuge district”. International Journal of Development Research, 13, (12), 64378-64382

to avoid misuse of government or organisation fundsand at the same

INTRODUCTION time such a system needs to have clear roles for each user. Many
organisations or government technical team have not take time to
Globally most governments have adopted payroll management design such a system but try to duplicate what other similar
information system to curb fraud that normally takes place in the organisations are using, so it is copy and paste and this has led to
salary department and this is not limited to governments only but also failure of such organisation’s system or being mismanaged and the
to private sector but still there has been serious fraud through these end result is fraud because the needs of these organisations are never
systems hence most administrators are wondering what can be done the same (Kannyiri & Mumuni, 2015). The government of Uganda
to eliminate or reduce this vice. An effective and efficient human under the local government administration introduced Integrated
resource management information system of payroll management Personnel Payroll System (IPPS) in 2009 which was intended to
information system can support employers if well managed and eliminate fraud which has been rampant in government payroll, when
interactively designed so that all activities are monitored and duties paper based system was being used Mafabi, (2017) emphases that
are segregated (Kritika, Shukla, &Nitasha, 2015).Research by Bernik paper based system of record keeping is not sustainable in the this era
(2007), brings it out clearly that payroll Management information of ICT especially to manage employee records right from sourcing,
Systemhas been used for a long time right from the 1960s and there recruitment through to exit, hence the use of ICT has enhanced the
has been improvement coupled with the recent boom in ICT, recruitment process (Emanghe & Amoramo, 2020). There has been a
digitization of employee records is the order of the day and no single public service reform program that the government of Uganda
organisation can run away from except embracing and enhancing it to introduced in right from 1980s and 1990s which was to achieve
provide self-service, real-time information, report generation and public sector efficiency and that of 2000s to improve on effectiveness
interactive work from anywhere environment (Lai, 2017). Generally in public financial management initiatives and modern management
governments must extend services to their people and most of their practices ESID, (2016) which included the introduction of IPPS to
works are labour intensive and require so many people to accomplish strengthen accountability and improve on service delivery but this has
hence there is need to develop a proper system to manage the payroll not been achieved because in the research of Kiwawulo, (2022)
64379 Onyango Laban Oliver Owin et al., Local Government payroll management information system model: A case of Mayuge District

discovered that there still exists ghost workers in the payroll and this and reducing the need for large numbers of HR employees; by
was also reported by the Auditor General in his report of 2012, 2013 allowing managers to access relevant information and data, conduct
and 2014. Mayugedistrict being part of the local government analysis, make decisions, and communicate with others without
embraced the use of IPPS with the hope of eliminating ghost workers consulting an HR professional; and by allowing managers to access
in the administration of employee benefits like salary payment, relevant information and data, conduct analysis, make decisions, and
employee attendance and other benefits management but this has not communicate with others without consulting an HR professional
yielded much and it has been found that ghost workers still exists in (Beadles II, Lowery & Johns,2005).
the IPPS.
Payroll management system model design and development process:
Problem statement: Despite of the effort the government of Uganda According to Kovach and Cathcart, (1999), the first and most
has put in to eliminate fraud within the local government payment important step in the design process of a payroll management system
system, Mayuge District Local governments still finds itself with is specifying the system requirements, especially the target users and
ghost workers, fraud and mismanagement of district funds, this has the decisions the system is designed to support. These specifications
been caused by the system’s failure to manage duplication of records include decisions about the type of data to collect, the amount of data
and lack of integrity, (Businge, 2011; kiwuwa, 2014; Kiwawulo, to collect, and how and when to collect the data. The next step is
2022; URN, 2021). The reforms of 2000s has yielded limited fruits business system design. This step involves answering questions about
which included the introduction of IPPS for proper accountability who will use the system, how they will access it, how it will be
(ESID, 2016) updated, and more. The technical system design also includes
software system development and programming. The system is then
Objective: The objective was to develop a payroll Management tested at selected locations and evaluated. Once the system is up and
information System model for Local governmentsMayuge district. running, it is reviewed, changes are made, and the process starts all
over again. In addition to the choice of what information to include,
the design of the payroll Management information System must also
LITERATURE REVIEW account for organizational and user characteristics. The
aforementioned information value guidelines should be utilized to
guide the selection of data to include in a PMS. The PMS staff's
Human resource management system (HRMS): HRMS is a part of structure and composition, the link between the PMS technology
the Management Information System, is a group of several systems strategy and that of the larger organization, and the impact of the
that contain and provide a lot of information that supports the PMS staff's efforts on personnel and the broader organization's
management of a company (Suharto&Sulistyo, 2018). Bamberger et culture are all examples of organizational and user characteristics.
al, (2014), added that aneffective HRM system is a hybrid system Carr, &Verner, (1997) characterized model development using
consisting of both commitment and control HR practices, and has prototyping as a four step, iterative procedure involving users and
much more significant positive effects on firm’s performance. developers: 1) user’s basic needs are identified (requirements), 2) a
According to Umokeh, (2010).The problem of ghost workers has led working prototype is develop ,3) the working prototype is then
to increase in government recurrent expenditure. Ghost workers implemented and used;4) the prototyping system is revised and
menace in Nigeria bureaucracy has gone so deep that the nation is enhanced.
losing billions in the three tiers of government. Human resources
managers at the Federal, State and Local Government levels are
mainly culpable, so also are the approving and accounting officers.
These officials are not clueless of the origin of ghost workers and
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
how to plug the loopholes. Rather, they will fully embrace such
loopholes or in the least, pretend such loopholes do not exist because The study Adopted a design science research approach, this type of
they and their cohorts are the beneficiaries. Micah & Moses, (2018) research deemed appropriate because it allows the researcher to
Stated that Ghost workers and payroll fraud refers to all processes of construct and evaluate IT artifacts, constructs, models, methods, and
employee impersonations that have salary cost implication on the instantiations, by which important payroll management system
concerned government, It includes all illegal, unauthorized, problems could be addressed(Peffers, et al, 2007).Face-to-face
unqualified, fictitious and non-existing staff that makes salary claims interview technique was preferred for gathering requirements from
from the government cofferswhich implies that underage, overage, key stakeholders, because this allows for a deeper understanding of
backdated employments, inherited employments, unqualified staff the current system according to the users‘perspective in order to
and unauthorized staffs even though they report for work daily, are identify the requirements for the design of a new model since this is
categorized as part of ghost workers and payroll fraud in the public the dominant technique in the field of qualitative research that gives
service. In most instances, these fraudulent public officeholders forge the researcher the advantage to ask more complex questions, observe
the necessary documents and authorizations to add an employee on as well as listen to the respondents than in other techniques.
the payroll.
RESULTS AND FINDINGS
According to Shani and Tesone (2010), some benefits of an effective
payroll Management information System on Human Resources
Management (HRM) are; (1) saving on cost and time, (2) contribution Results from the study of the existing system: From secondary data
in making a strategic decision, (3) improving the quality of strategic sources, the researcher established that IPPS lacks integrity and
decision making, and (4) increase in the commitment for employee verification checks on the payroll master file which is used for
development. Besides the benefits of the administration and the processing monthly payments, some interfaces like salary update,
strategic use of payroll Management information System above, shift from normal payroll to pension are not automated, Lacks leave
Beckers and Bsat (2002) revealed five reasons why companies need module, whereby it’s difficult to know whether someone is absent or
to implement the payroll Management information System follows: on leave or a ghost worker, lacks an attendance module, to capture
(1) payroll Management information System can improve those who work and those who do not but continue to receive
competitiveness by improving the practice of the HR, (2) payroll government salary, allows cross entry of supplier number from other
Management information System produces a number and various district which creates a gapentering ghost workers, Lacks a
operational HR which are greater, (3) it can shift the focus of communication interface ,where employees can communicate directly
conventional HR to the management of strategic human resources, (4) to Administrators,no access control tools where officials at the
it considers employees as the assets of the company, and (5) it can ministry can access Human resource and CAO’s account and modify
reengineer the entire function of HR. Payroll Management information. All the above are fertile grounds for adding ghost
information System would cut HR costs by automating information workers and fraud in the system. This information helped to guide the
64380 International Journal of Development Research, Vol. 13, Issue, 12, pp. 64378-64382, December, 2023

researcher on the design of the new model, as in what features should This phase involved identifying entity and relationship types,
be included in the new model to do away with ghost workers and identifying and associating attributes with entity or relationship types.
fraud. Determination of attribute domains, checking the resulting model for
redundancy, validation of the conceptual model against user
To design a payroll Management information System model for transactions is then done before a review of the conceptual data model
Local governments/ the proposed model design: Model Design is the with the user. From the context diagram, a Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
process of describing the components, interfaces and architecture of a of the model was crafted. A DFD showed the main processes of the
model that meet or satisfy the required specifications. It defines how model that depicted what kind of data was input to and output from
the model operates and interacts with external users with the intention the model, where the data was to come from and go, and where the
of describing how the model is in nature and what it does which in data was stored. Below is the contextual diagram for a proposed
general captures the model’s behavior.The developed model was payroll management system for local government. Architectural
designed basing on the following designs as illustrated in the design gave a high level view of the main components of the model
diagrams below. The context design defines the interaction of various and the services they provide and how they communicate with one
users with the system. The system administrator who is the data another. This made it easy for stakeholders to understand the model.
manager (Human resource officer in charge of salary and pension)
logins in the system and the system authenticates his/her login. On New designed model: The model shows the flow of activities by
logging into the system, he can feed in employee particulars, upload system users. The activities begin with either the employee or the
documents and is also able to view reports about employees from the system administrator who is the human resource logging in into the
system. The head of department verifies the employee and then sends system from the user interface. If the log in is successful for both the
to CAO for approval. The employee logs in and the system admin and employee they proceed to their different activities else will
authenticates his/her login. The employee has rights to change his/ her be taken back to the login interface.
login details as well view his/her particulars only.

Figure 1. Conceptual design

Figure 2. Complete system model

64381 Onyango Laban Oliver Owin et al., Local Government payroll management information system model: A case of Mayuge District

The admin who successfully logs in can add an employee, update There are various processes in the developed model such as the login
employee particulars as well as view reports. Then the head of process, login verification, verification of employees by heads of
department verifies the employee details and then sends to CAO for department and approval of all transactions by CAO, leave
approval. An employee who successfully logs in just views his/her application and report generation. Data stores include the login info
particulars and the whole process is terminated by the logging out of data store and employee information data store. Reports about
the system. employees are the basic output.
State diagram: This describes the behavior of a pay roll management
Data flow diagram: The data flow diagram describes the flow of system considering all the possible states of an object when an event
data within the system. It shows various processes from the model. occurs as seen below:

Figure 3. Data flow diagram

Figure 4. State diagram

64382 International Journal of Development Research, Vol. 13, Issue, 12, pp. 64378-64382, December, 2023

CONCLUSIONS Emanghe, E. E. &Amoramo, J. D., (2020). Integrated Payroll and

Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for Sustainability of
University Education in Nigeria after COVID-19 Pandemic,
There were numerous challenges faced in the existing system that International Journal of Capacity Building in Education and
needed to be addressed and these have given rise to development of Management (IJCBEM), Vol. 4, No 1, (PP. 35 -45).
an improved model. In this information age every organization needs ESID (2016). Public Sector Reform in Uganda; Behind the Façade
to embrace information systems most especially in Human resource ESID Briefing No. 23. Manchester; The University of
management for competitive advantage. The research discovered that Manchester, 4p.
the IPPS had very few modules like payroll management, pension Kannyiri,T. B. & Mumuni, A. N., (2015) .Challenges in Managing in
management, establishment control, training management and managing government payroll system in Ghana, Asian Academic
electronic document management system but lacked other modules Research Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, vol. 2 (pp. 11
that could bring about proper control against fraud and lacked – 34)
segregation of duties in the system which is a key element in proper Kinene, E. (2021, November 30). Government Develops Software,
management of information system hence the new model has App to Fight Ghost Workers, Corruption in Public Service ::
captured other modules and brought in segregation of duties and Uganda Radionetwork. Uganda Radio Network.
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