An ongoing data verification exercise in the Ministry of Education has revealed a massive fraud involving inflated enrolment figures, with more than 50,000 non-existent learners flagged in official records.
The revelations come at a time when schools are grappling with delayed capitation funds and rising costs. According to Education CS Julius Ogamba, the audit was necessary because faulty records had resulted in inflated budgets and wasteful spending. “We go to Parliament asking for more funds, but without the right numbers our requests are slashed. This has been a longstanding problem,” he said.
The scandal has raised alarm in Parliament, where legislators have accused ministry officials of colluding with school administrators to siphon public funds. They have demanded accountability from top officers, including directors and finance staff, insisting that reshuffles are not enough.
Committee chair Julius Melly said the racket represents a deliberate plunder of taxpayers’ money. “We want disciplinary action, not transfers. Those responsible must face the full force of the law,” he said.
Preliminary data shows that 3,485 primary schools and nearly 2,000 secondary schools risk losing government funding due to false or incomplete submissions. Some schools even provided wrong bank account details, raising questions about possible collusion with local officials.
With Sh23 billion released by the Treasury, more than Sh16 billion has already been disbursed. But the CS noted that learners are still underfunded. This year, each student has received Sh15,385—about 68 percent of the official allocation of Sh22,244 per learner.
The ministry hopes that once the audit is complete, funds will only be directed to real learners, restoring integrity in the system and cutting wastage.
