NAIROBI, Kenya — Thousands of learners remain stranded without government funding after the Ministry of Education withheld disbursements to schools that submitted flawed or suspicious data, exposing deep cracks in Kenya’s education records.
The ministry has tied the release of funds to a nationwide verification exercise after discovering widespread errors, including wrong bank details, incomplete enrolment lists, and missing Unique Personal Identification (UPI) numbers.
Internal reports show 719 schools provided incorrect account details, risking misdirected payments, while nearly 900 submitted incomplete data, leaving many students unregistered.
Another 250 schools filed reports in the wrong format, and 80 uploaded blank or corrupted forms.
The errors have stalled allocations to schools in dozens of counties, with Bungoma, Kisii, Busia, Baringo, Kericho, Kakamega, Kitui, and Nairobi among the hardest hit.
The delays are disrupting operations just four weeks into the final term of the year.
Appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee, Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok revealed that the audit had already uncovered more than 50,000 “ghost” students in secondary schools.
He warned that inflated enrolments were costing taxpayers an estimated Sh1.1 billion annually — or Sh4.4 billion over a full secondary cycle.
“In secondary schools, the numbers are not adding up. Quite a number of students are being reported separately. For primary and junior, the trend is slightly different, with enrolments appearing higher than expected,” Bitok told MPs.
So far, funds have been released to about 17,500 institutions — 5,500 primary schools, 5,732 secondary schools, 5,525 junior schools, and 600 special institutions. That leaves nearly 40 per cent of the country’s 32,000 schools still waiting for clearance.
Education Committee chair Julius Melly demanded firm action against individuals or institutions found falsifying records, saying fake schools and ghost enrolments were draining scarce public resources and undermining the free education programme.
“This is not just an accounting error — it’s deliberate fraud. Those responsible must face the law,” Melly said.
The ministry has assured schools that cleared institutions will continue receiving their allocations, while the rest remain under scrutiny.
