MPs put to task CS over 'ghost' schools audit

The National Assembly yesterday put Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba to task to explain why monies have been disbursed to non-existent schools.

This came as the CS said a recent verification exercise has borne fruit, adding that the Government has saved at least Sh1.1 billion, which would have otherwise been disbursed to schools that do not exist.

“Only 934 schools have not completed the exercise, where Sh79 million has been released to 50 per cent of the numbers they had presented, meaning that even if we were to release 100 per cent - another Sh79 million - the balance that we would be having is Sh1.1 billion, which was being released for numbers that do not exist. That is why this exercise was important and we ensured that learners did not suffer as the examination period came,” said the CS.

Ogamba said the information collected since the exercise started in September would be analysed to determine issues that the National Assembly had raised, including whether the ministry has been releasing capitation to schools that do not exist.

But Speaker Moses Wetang’ula wondered why the ministry was doing more investigation. “If a school does not exist, the question of which school this is does not arise?” 

Ogamba, however, said 10 schools that had no student had been closed, adding that the ministry would find out why learners had snubbed the institutions.

He said it was important to establish whether capitation had been released to such schools previously to determine whether there was fraud in addition to getting evidence to use against those suspected.

He said report by the Office of the Auditor General was already with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

The MPs, however, sought action from the ministry. “Minister, you have officers in every county who have a duty to keep and update records of schools continuously and furnish to your ministry. That public resources have been wired to non-existent schools for non-existent students, how many of your officers have you been interdicted for doing this criminal act?” said Wetang’ula.

The CS said they are yet to interdict any officer because they have not completed the analysis of data collected, after which action will be taken.

“We cannot take action on anyone based on the data we have now because we have not concluded the exercise,” the CS said.

Minority Whip, Millie Odhiambo regretted that corruption has been derailing the country, saying that those culpable should not be in office at the moment.

“The CS is disappointing me. We have been told that they have identified where there are corrupt practices, why would we be taking long trying to trace … you have found there is a non-existent school and someone has paid to some non-existent school. Can I come to your office and tell you who paid? Just pin point who paid and throw them out of the office, it is as simple as that,” Odhiambo said.

Kitui South Mp, Rachel Nyamai added: “I am equally disappointed because the CS, who I believe is very knowledgeable is telling us that Sh1.1 billion was released in favor of numbers or students that do not exist. He also tells us that 934 schools have benefitted for money and he is not able to verify. There is a problem and I think it is a huge cartel that ensures information is not provided and if it is, it is not given within the right time and that the CS could be having a lot of problems below him. There must be a problem.”

The MPs said some have overstayed in certain position and will forever guard the information and will continue to protect their system to continue looting, which calls for a ‘radical surgery’ in the Ministry failure to which children will continue to suffer.

They demanded a clean-up of the Ministry and that the final report of the verification exercise, be fast tracked.

According to the CS, the verification arose from the fact that the Office of the Auditor-General reported that some of the schools that had received capitation from the Ministry of Education were non-existent.

Following this report, he said the Ministry decided to undertake a comprehensive verification exercise to determine the actual number of schools and learners in the country.

“To ensure transparency and accountability in the utilization of public resources, we decided that capitation shall only be disbursed to schools whose enrolment will have been verified. In the capitation cycle released for third term, the Ministry used an enrolment of 5,833,175 learners in 23,889 primary schools to request for capitation funds amounting to Sh1.6 billion. This amount was subsequently released by the National Treasury to the Ministry for disbursement,” he said.

According to the CS Sh1.36 billion has been disbursed for 4,812,189 learners where 16,788 schools with 4,295,820 leaners were cleared for full capitation and paid Sh1.22 billion.

Some 235,461 learners in 3,979 schools below threshold (with less than 90 learners) were paid full capitation, amounting to Sh66.8 million while 3,065 schools which had not submitted data or submitted data in the wrong format were paid at 50 percent of the NEMIS enrolment, covering 280,900 learners and accounting for Sh79.7 million.

In the capitation cycle released for the third term of this year, he said an enrolment of 2.4 million learners was used to request for capitation funds for 20,927 Junior Schools and the National Treasury released Sh5.7 billion to the Ministry for this level of learning.

Following the ongoing verification exercise, 2.9 million learners in 20,630 Junior Schools have been cleared and their capitation released, translating to a disbursement of Sh5.1 billion.

 This amount includes Sh78.2 million that was paid for 56,599 learners in 2,145 schools that are below threshold, that is, with under 45 learners.

 It also includes S122h. 4 million, for 118,646 learners in 934 schools that were paid 50 per cent capitation based on NEMIS enrolment and 934 schools are still awaiting verification and clearance.

“The delays in verification have been caused by non-submission of data, late data submissions and errors in data capture by the respective institutions. Our field officers are working with the institutions to ensure the urgent submission of accurate data,” he insisted.

For secondary schools, he said the Ministry received the sum of Sh10.37 billion for capitation for third terms based on enrolment of 3.35 million learners in 9,550 schools.

Following the verification exercise, an enrolment of 3,259,650 learners has been cleared, resulting in the disbursement of Sh10.09 billion.

Out of a total of 9,550 schools that were processed, 9,540 schools have been funded while 10 schools have closed down for having no learners.

The 10 schools include Kiria Secondary, Dr Machage Moheto, Ragia Forest High, Mugwandi Mixed, Friends Bulovi, Loiwat High, Ngamba secondary, Sintakara, Maji Mazuri Mixed secondary and Fr Leo Staples Girls.