NAIROBI, Kenya – Senators are calling for urgent accountability from the Ministry of Education after a damning audit revealed the misappropriation of billions of shillings in capitation funds, including payments to ghost and defunct schools.
The special audit, covering the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 financial years, exposed glaring irregularities in the distribution of funds meant for public primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary schools.
Speaking during a Senate session on Wednesday, Kajiado Senator Kanar Seki described the findings as “a betrayal of the Kenyan people.”
According to the audit, secondary schools were shortchanged by Sh71 billion, junior secondary schools by Sh31 billion, primary schools by Sh14 billion, while learners in special needs secondary institutions missed out on Sh67 billion.
In a shocking revelation, the report also indicated that 14 non-existent schools received Sh16 billion, and six shut-down schools continued to receive funding long after closing their doors.
“These revelations raise fundamental questions about transparency and accountability within the Ministry of Education and its affiliated agencies,” Senator Seki said. “Disbursing billions to institutions that do not exist, while learners face teacher shortages, infrastructure challenges, congestion, and delayed funding, is unacceptable.”
Seki called on the Senate Standing Committee on Education to demand a clear action plan from the Ministry.
He pressed for explanations on how the 14 ghost schools were registered in the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) and why there was no verification.
He also demanded the naming of officials in both the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury who processed or approved the fraudulent payments, and urged the government to outline steps taken to recover the lost funds and prosecute those responsible.
The senator further asked whether the Ministry plans to initiate a full audit of the NEMIS database, which has been blamed for past funding discrepancies, to ensure that capitation funds are allocated solely to genuine and operational institutions.
The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Betty Montet, has been tasked with probing the extent of the irregularities and recommending measures to prevent further misuse of public resources.
The revelations come at a time when the education sector is grappling with the rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), a transition that has put added strain on junior secondary schools already struggling with underfunding, staffing gaps, and inadequate infrastructure.
