A nationwide audit has uncovered 87,000 ghost learners and several non-existent schools, potentially costing taxpayers over Sh1 billion. Education CS Julius Ogamba vows tough action after verification.
Kenya’s Ministry of Education is grappling with one of the sector’s biggest financial scandals in recent years after an ongoing nationwide audit revealed that at least 87,000 non-existent learners were included in official enrolment records. Preliminary findings also show that the government may have lost close to Sh1 billion in capitation funds due to falsified data across Basic Education institutions.
The revelations emerged from continuous verification efforts initiated in September, following concerns over inconsistencies in school enrolment data, particularly within the primary and junior school levels. Auditor-General reports had earlier warned that inflated learner numbers may have drained over Sh4 billion from public coffers in the last four years.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba confirmed that the ministry is in possession of thousands of suspicious entries, including schools that appear to exist only on paper. Speaking during a heads’ conference in Mombasa, Ogamba said the verification team had flagged fictitious learners and institutions, warning that individuals responsible for feeding manipulated data into the system would be held accountable.
“We have identified about 87,000 ghost learners so far. The ministry is retaining nearly Sh1 billion because the numbers simply don’t add up,” Ogamba said. “Anyone responsible for inflating enrolment will face the full force of the law. Heads must roll.”
However, Ogamba stressed that due process must guide the process, noting that schools with unusually large variances must be physically inspected before punitive measures are taken. The ministry has dispatched verification teams to counties where discrepancies are most pronounced to prevent wrongful accusations.
The problem is compounded by longstanding weaknesses in education data systems. With only 600 Quality Assurance Officers and 200 auditors overseeing more than 53,000 schools, the government admits that monitoring capacity has been severely overstretched. Some officers lack transport, making it difficult to conduct field inspections, particularly in remote regions.
The audit has also uncovered 10 schools with zero learners on the ground—a shocking finding that suggests such institutions may have been receiving capitation despite being non-operational. Parliament has since demanded firm action, with National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula questioning why ministry officers who oversaw school data collection have not yet been interdicted.
In response, Ogamba insisted that disciplinary action must await final verification, warning that rushing to punish staff before evidence is complete could expose the ministry to legal setbacks. He emphasized that criminal culpability would ultimately be determined by investigative agencies, while the ministry focuses on administrative accountability.
The Kenya Primary School Heads Association has defended school administrators, arguing that system failures—including problems in the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS)—may have contributed to mismatches between uploaded data and approved capitation. The transition to the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), they say, is expected to resolve many legacy issues.
With the verification exercise extended for the fourth time, the Ministry hopes to finalize the data cleanup before the next term. Capitation distribution is also being realigned to support the Comprehensive Schools structure, with the government withholding Sh1.1 billion until the confirmed figures are released.
Once complete, Ogamba says the full report will be submitted to investigative agencies for further action, marking the beginning of what may become the most significant crackdown on financial fraud in Kenya’s education sector.
