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Tanzania has removed more than 10,000 "ghost workers" from its public sector payroll in a crackdown on corruption.

Payments to the non-existent employees had been costing the government more than $2m a month, according to the prime minister's office. 

The authorities say they are continuing to audit the public payroll and expect to find more phantom workers. 

President John Magufuli, who was elected in October, has promised to cut wasteful public expenditure in office.

He ordered the audit in March, calling for the money saved to be used towards development. 

Nicknamed the bulldozer, Mr Magufuli has announced a range of cost-cutting measures since coming to power, including cancelling official celebrations for independence day.

Tanzania spends more than $260 million a month paying the salaries of its estimated 550,000 public workers, Reuters news agency reports.

Credit: BBC