Senators demand answers over billions paid to ghost schools
Senators have demanded full accountability from the Ministry of Education following a special audit report that exposed huge gaps and irregularities in the disbursement of capitation funds to public schools, including payments to ghost and defunct institutions.
Speaking during a Senate session on Wednesday, Kajiado Senator Kanar Seki stated that the audit revealed massive underfunding across all public learning levels during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 financial years.
The report showed that secondary schools missed out on Sh71 billion, junior secondary schools Sh31 billion, primary schools Sh14 billion, while learners in special needs secondary schools were denied Sh67 billion in funding
Equally disturbing were audit findings showing that 14 non-existent schools received a total of Sh16 billion, while six schools that had shut down continued to receive government funding.
Senator Seki criticised the Ministry for failing to ensure accurate data management and for allowing public funds to be lost despite schools facing teacher shortages, poor infrastructure, congestion, and late disbursements.
“These revelations raise fundamental questions about transparency and accountability within the Ministry of Education and related agencies. Disbursing billions to non-existent or non-operational schools, while learners face teacher shortages, infrastructure challenges, congestion, and delayed funding, is a betrayal of the Kenyan people,” he stated.
He asked the Senate Standing Committee on Education to explain the specific steps being taken to address the serious underfunding, particularly in junior secondary schools, which continue to face heavy pressure due to the ongoing rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum.
Senator Seki further sought answers on how the 14 ghost schools found their way into the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) without verification.
He asked for the identification of all officials from the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury who approved or processed the illegal payments, and demanded updates on actions taken to recover the stolen money and hold those responsible to account.
Seki also pushed for clarity on whether the Ministry intends to launch a full audit of the NEMIS database to ensure capitation funds are only allocated to genuine, operational schools going forward.
The Senate committee, chaired by Senator Betty Montet, has been tasked with determining if a comprehensive verification exercise is being planned to prevent further misuse of public funds through fake or defunct schools.
Speaking during a Senate session on Wednesday, Kajiado Senator Kanar Seki stated that the audit revealed massive underfunding across all public learning levels during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 financial years.
The report showed that secondary schools missed out on Sh71 billion, junior secondary schools Sh31 billion, primary schools Sh14 billion, while learners in special needs secondary schools were denied Sh67 billion in funding
Equally disturbing were audit findings showing that 14 non-existent schools received a total of Sh16 billion, while six schools that had shut down continued to receive government funding.
Senator Seki criticised the Ministry for failing to ensure accurate data management and for allowing public funds to be lost despite schools facing teacher shortages, poor infrastructure, congestion, and late disbursements.
“These revelations raise fundamental questions about transparency and accountability within the Ministry of Education and related agencies. Disbursing billions to non-existent or non-operational schools, while learners face teacher shortages, infrastructure challenges, congestion, and delayed funding, is a betrayal of the Kenyan people,” he stated.
He asked the Senate Standing Committee on Education to explain the specific steps being taken to address the serious underfunding, particularly in junior secondary schools, which continue to face heavy pressure due to the ongoing rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum.
Senator Seki further sought answers on how the 14 ghost schools found their way into the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) without verification.
He asked for the identification of all officials from the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury who approved or processed the illegal payments, and demanded updates on actions taken to recover the stolen money and hold those responsible to account.
Seki also pushed for clarity on whether the Ministry intends to launch a full audit of the NEMIS database to ensure capitation funds are only allocated to genuine, operational schools going forward.
The Senate committee, chaired by Senator Betty Montet, has been tasked with determining if a comprehensive verification exercise is being planned to prevent further misuse of public funds through fake or defunct schools.
Senators
Ministry of Education
public schools
NEMIS
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