In an internal memo dated 19th of October 2020, the Bungoma County branch manager has asked all NHIF Staff to close its offices. This was triggered by the shock that one of their members was found Covid-19 positive. 

"As you are all aware, one of our staff has contracted COVID 19 and is in self isolation. After consultation with NHIF COVID RESPONSE TEAM base at the head office, the following is to be done immediately." Read part of the memo. 

Among the measures taken, the branch manager demanded that the office be closed for fumigation by the public health office. Mr. Hillary Magut and the Branch Manager have been tasked to oversee it.

All staff have been asked to proceed for self-isolation for a period of 14 days and undergo the test at the Bungoma County Referral Hospital Immediately. 

"A second test to be undertaken after 7 to 10 days to confirm the status. All staff who will be negative after the second test to resume to work after 14 days from the date of this letter. 2nd November 2020." Branch Manager Peter Chemursoi said. 

Each member of staff have been asked to take responsibility to inform their respective employers and HCPs of the temporary closure and advise them to use self-care portal or visit other service centers.

Coronavirus infections have risen in the past few days casting doubt on Monday's expected full reopening of schools in Kenya. Education stakeholders including parents and teachers have urged caution. 

Grade 4, Standard 8 and Form 4 students reported on school on 12th of October this year. The rest of the learners were anticipated to reopen after two weeks, depending on the rate of COVID-19 cases in the country.

At the time of reopening, the infections rate had dropped significantly to less than 5 per cent which the World Health Organisation recommends for school reopening. The plan, however, seems to be jeopardised even as the Ministry of Health is expected to give it green light following the rising percentage of Covid-19 patients.

COVID-19 cases have increased tripled, a situation that could trigger a likely return to lockdown. Coronavirus positivity rate now stands at 12 per cent, up from 4 per cent. The Ministry of Health is yet to approve the plan to reopen schools for all learners.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe hinted at a tightening of containment protocols should the current trend not revers.

According to NATION, blame games have rocked the Ministry of Health with officials blaming their Health counterparts for lack of guidance on the fate of other learners, even as parents’ associations and headteachers warned against a rushed resumption of school.

Education Cabinet Secretary Magoha had mentioned that the rest of learners would be recalled after 2 weeks of candidate's resumption and is expected to issue direction on the full reopening this week.

Partial reopening

“The ministry will observe the situation in one or two weeks, then we recall the other children. We shall recall them when the time is right,” Prof Magoha said while inspecting Olympic Primary in Kibra last week.

The Education Taskforce on Covid-19 led by Sara Ruto suggested the partial reopening last week due to a positivity rate of less than 4 per cent for two weeks. It was by this fact that the Ministry of Health and the Education Ministry allowed form 4, Grade 4, and Standard learners to resume learning.

The task force team advised that the rest of learners should reopen after observing the trend for two weeks. It has however been revealed that the taskforce team have not met to review the situation since they made the last recommendations.

“The information from the Ministry of Health is discouraging,” a source from the Ministry of Education said. National Parents Association chair Nicholas Maiyo has threatened to petition the government to shut down schools if learners get infected.

Kenya Private Schools Association Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndoro maintained the Ministry of Health should do more to safeguard the health of school children.

“We are very disappointed by how the Health ministry has been passing information on Covid-19. There is a need for more awareness now that schools have started reopening,” Peter Ndoro said.

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESHA) Chairman Kahi Indimuli noted that school administrators are in a dilemma over the school resumption adding that a big loss among form four candidates had been identified by teachers since reporting to school.

“The Ministry of Health will have to come out strongly and advise on the way forward now that the positivity rate is going up,” Mr Indimuli said. He noted that learners need to be protected even at home.

“We would have wished to have all the students back in school but looking at the Covid-19 figures, we have to ask if it will be advisable to reopen. That is the fear we have. On the other hand, the more we keep them at home, the more difficult it will be to bring them up to speed with syllabus expectations,” Mr Indimuli said.

The prosecution of a then headmistress, who allegedly hired assassins in November 2016 to kill her spouse, commenced on Monday at the Kiambu High Court.

The former Icaciri Secondary School in Kiambu headmistress Ms Jane Muthoni was accused of scheming the murder of her husband Mr Solomon Mwangi, a late principal of Kiru Boys Secondary School in Murang’a county.

Ms Muthoni appeared before the court alongside her co-accused Mr Issac Nganga on Monday.

Murder conspiracy

Mrs Muthoni claimed that on Nov 6th, she was called by abductors via phone and reported the matter to the police. The abductors later off their phones after realising that the police were trailing them. 

The widow, however, failed to tell the court the amount of ransom the abductors were demanding.

Muthoni denied claims by the court that her husband was murdered on 6th of November 2016, or on 9th of November 2016, given that they talked on the said dates. She also denied her participation in the murder conspiracy.

The accuser opposed their cash bail petitions claiming that if freed, they will meddle with witnesses. Muthoni is currently being detained at Lang’ata Women's Prison while her co-accused is being held at Industrial Area Remand Prison.

Joseph Njuguna, a convict-turned-state witness who spew the beans on the murder plot narrated to the police in his confession how he was contacted by a woman identified as Damaris, with a 'well-paying job offer.'

Damaris had been contracted by the widow Ms Muthoni – now the suspect – to hire gunmen.

Love Affair

Ms Muthoni alleged that her late husband was had an unlawful affair with another woman, an M-Pesa shop attendant.

Mr Joseph Njuguna, currently serving his five-year jail term at Kamiti Maximum Prisons for manslaughter, had narrated to investigators and the court the that the primary murder scheme was to kill a female M-Pesa shop attendant in Kiria-ini.

Mr Njuguna identified the mastermind of the plot as a man by the name ‘Njiru’. The female M-Pesa shop attendant, he said was to be murdered for having an affair with her husband. Mr Njuguna was to be paid Sh100.000 executing the job.

The plot murder plot failed when the killers toured their supposed target in Murang’a and cosmetically ordered for a soft drink then went away due to the risks involved. The M-Pesa shop was next to a police station and an Equity Bank.

The next scheme idea, Mr Njuguna confessed was to assassinate the principal of Kiru Boys Secondary School. The principal was then drugged by his wife Muthoni who successfully handed him over to his executioners who strangled him in the forest using a rope.

Mwangi’s body was later retrieved in Juja from a coffee farm following a search led by Muthoni, his wife who failed to pay the hired criminals a balance of Ksh300,000 leading to the leakage of the scheme.

The case will be heard again on Wednesday.

What you need to Note:

• For the case to succeed, Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) wants the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to quickly start negotiations for the 2021-2023 CBA.
• The Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) for the first time has granted its proposals to the commission, demanding for a 50 to 60 per cent basic salary increment.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has asked the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to rise teachers salary to up to 200 per cent to cushion its affiliates from inflation and Coronavirus effects.

In a transit expected to jolt the Commission, Knut SG Wilson Sossion noted that in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the lowest pay rise for its members should not be less than 120 per cent.

This is in consideration that the government had agreed to grant teachers between 50-60 per cent pay increment back in 2017.

Mr Sossion wants an annual basic salary increment of 5.0 per cent, house allowance increment of 50 per cent and accommodation and night allowance 50 per cent increase in the minimum basic salary. 

Further, the KNUT Secretary General Honorable Wilson Sossion wants risk allowance by 10 per cent, commuter allowance increased by 50 per cent, and hardship by 10 per cent.

For the case to succeed, Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) wants the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to quickly start negotiations for the 2021-2023 CBA.

2017 to 2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in October 2016 is programmed to end on 30th June 2021. The Teachers Union is requesting for a thorough job evaluation for Classroom teachers to warrant satisfactory compensation. Mr Sossion insists that job evaluation was improperly done before the 2017-2021 deal.

Classroom Teachers Have Been Ignored For Long

The KNUT Lawmaker argues that the current CBA only favours school administrators leaving classroom teachers with so little. Sossion has condemned the Teachers Service Commission of breaching the law by revealing and sending part of CBA proposals by KNUT and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) to Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) even before the conclusion of the negotiations.

“The current CBA only favours teachers in administrative positions, leaving the classroom tutor with little increment over the last four years,”- Mr Sossion

The lawmaker claims that before CBA proposals are given to the SRC, unions need to be involved, table their proposals and discuss them. On 15th of October, the KNUT Secretary-General asked SRC to ignore the proposals citing that the wrong channel was followed.

"The commission should only present the details of discussions and their proposals after we have had our discussions,” said Mr Sossion.

Sossion noted that in the non-existence of any meeting between the consultative committee and the parties, the law would not support any step taken by the commission if Section 13(5) of the TSC Act is to be followed. The TSC Act compels the TSC to set a consultative committee on the terms and conditions of service of teachers.

 “Despite several requests, the commission has failed to constitute the committee against the requirement of the law and International Conventions Rule 143(m),” said Mr Sossion.

Special allowance for Kusnet.

The Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) for the very first time granted its recommendations to TSC, bidding for a 50 to 60 per cent basic salary increment. Kusnet secretary-general James Torome is directing for a monthly special allowance of Ksh15, 000 and Ksh30,000 a guidance allowance. 

“All special need education teachers shall be paid a uniform allowance of Sh15, 000 per year,” Kusnet Secretary-General James Torome.

Further, KUSNET, demands that Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) be provided under the code of regulations for teachers. The agreement requires the commission to ensures that every teacher employed by the commission is facilitated to undergo career progression,” said Mr Torome

KUPPET Ready For Negotiations

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education (KUPET) has expressed its willingness to engage with the Teachers Service Commission if called upon.

 “As a union, we have not rejected any proposal from the TSC; we shall discuss and negotiate for a new deal for teachers when called upon,” Kuppet SG Akelo Misori.

The 2017-2021 CBA that involved a Ksh54 billion deal has created conflict between Knut and TSC leading to salary increment and promotion denial of KNUT teachers.

The future of about 55,000 private school learners dangles in the air after their schools failed to reopen last Monday. Teachers Updates has established that a good number of learners in form 4, standard eight and grade 4 are busy seeking admissions in various public learning institutions across the country.

The primary concerns of inadequate capacity come ahead of school resumption for all learners in a week. More than 200 schools have permanently shut down since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic that paralysed learning across the country.

School owners and managers have turned schools into agricultural and business premises while those who had rented have handed premises to landlords to the inability to pay rents. 

Whistling Thorn School in Kawangware Dangoretti North turned the school into a rental apartment forcing learners to look for admission in other learning institutions.

In Mukuru Kwa Reuben, Nairobi, hundred of learners remained stranded this week after 15 schools got demolished to pave way for road construction. 

Kenya Private Schools Association, KPSA, Chief Executive Peter Ndoro has admitted that 207 schools failed resume classes by on Monday last week noting that the number is just a fraction since some learning institutions do not belong to the association.

Schools that failed to reopen have advised parents to transfer their children to other learning institutions however much concern is the fate of standard eight pupils and forms four candidates who will have to sit for exams in new schools.

The transfer of children has also been a burden to parents as they buy new school uniforms for their children.

National Examination centres

The Ministry of Education is expected to work with the affected schools and the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to ensure that all candidates sit for the national examinations o March next year as scheduled.

Perhaps it is time for the government to start investing more in public institutions to avoid the future crisis from emerging again. 

Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the insufficient investment of public schools by the government. 

Public schools are already overcrowded and are incapable of taking in their learners when they fully resume classes. Teacher to learner ratio openly expose the desperate shortage of teachers in the country.

Since the introduction of Free Primary Education in 2002, public schools have greatly overstretched their capacity with some public schools such as Mwiki Primary Schools in Githurai 45 in Ruiru, Olympic Primary School in Kibera, Nairobi falling in this category.

Classroom capacity in the majority of public schools ranges from 50 to 80 learners. More than 15 million learners are in primary schools according to the Ministry of Education Records. Statistics show that out of the total population of 18 million learners, 3.2 million are in pre-primary school.

Ten million pupils can be estimated to about 32,218 primary schools according to NATION as 8747 can be estimated to 5 million secondary schools.

2.5 million learners in 11000 private schools.

Kenya has a total of 2.5 million learners in 11,000 private schools. 

Other learners are expected to resume school from 26th of October despite the Covid-19 cases increasing.

The Covid-19 health protocols suggest that a sitting at a distance of 1.5 metres from each other be adhered to. This has limited the number of learners to a maximum of 15 to 25 in most schools.

Grade Four, Standard Eight and form four leaners who reported last week have occupied nearly half of all classes in some schools. This means that other learners might be forced to study outside classrooms when they resume learning.

School Debts.

Private schools have been grappling with debts from suppliers as they struggle to remain afloat. Majority of them are unable to run their operations. In a desperate move, some have sold their properties and learning equipment to mitigate the situation as others have fallen on the auctioneer's hammer due to defaults on loans.

The financial shock has hardly hit school managers of private schools who have vowed not to relent on the issue of school-fees as they have bills to pay.

According to Mr Ndoro, parents must pay school fee since most of the schools are facing a financial crisis. “So far, 85 per cent of our learners resumed. However, we have some learners who didn’t resume.” He said.

SUPERVISORS ARE ASKED TO TAKE ALL NECESSARY STEPS TO ENSURE THAT THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS ARE BROUGHT TO THE NOTICE OF THE TEACHERS AND CANDIDATES UNDER EXAMINATION.

TEACHERS are advised to ensure that their students are carefully drilled on how to carry out the instructions given below and are aware of the penalties for irregularities or misconduct.  Candidates are required to follow these instructions carefully.

     GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO THE CANDIDATES

• Be  at  your  seat  in  the  Examination  Room  five  minutes  before  the  time  fixed  for  the  examination  in  the  various  papers.   Morning  sessions  will normally start at 8.00 am and the second sessions will start at 11.30 am.
•  A candidate who arrives late will be required to give a satisfactory reason to the supervisor.  Except in exceptional circumstances, a paper will not be given to any candidate who is more than half an hour late.  Absolute punctuality is essential for certain papers, e.g. Shorthand.






• If an examination paper for which you are not entered is handed to you, or if the questions indicate that other materials should also have been given out, speak to the supervisor at once.
• Attend carefully to any general directions that may be given at the head of a paper, e.g. directions limiting the number of questions that should be answered.
• Write your name, your index number as well as the name of the paper on the first page of each answer book or sheet of each set of papers you use. Your index number must be written in clear figures in the space provided on every sheet or page of answer book.
• Write on both sides of the paper, but do not use the margins.  Begin the answer to each separate part of a question on a fresh line.
• Write the number of the question clearly in the left-hand margin at the beginning of each answer.  Do not copy the question.  Be careful to use the same system of numbering as appears in the question paper.  Leave a blank line after the answer to each question.
• Write your answers with black or blue ink.  You may use a fountain pen or ball point pen.  Pencils should only be used for diagrams.  Remember that handwriting and spelling will be taken into account.  Bring mathematical and drawing instruments for subjects for which they will be needed.






• Read the questions carefully.  Much time may be wasted in writing down information that is not asked for and no marks are given for it.
• Do not write so much upon one or two questions as to leave yourself not enough time to answer others which you are able to answer.
• As soon as notice is given to stop, ARRANGE YOUR ANSWER BOOK AND SHEETS IN THE CORRECT ORDER (this is normally the order in which you answered the questions).   Make sure that they all have your index number written upon them.   Fasten them together at the left-hand corner and hand them UNFOLDED to the supervisor.
• Withdrawal from the examination should have been notified to the Council before any papers of the examination are taken.

CAUTIONS TO THE CANDIDATES

1. You  are  not  allowed  to  leave  the  examination  room  before  the  end  of  the  period  allocated  to  the  paper  except  by  special  permi ssion  of  the supervisor.  NO CANDIDATE SO PERMITTED MAY TAKE A QUESTION PAPER OUT OF THE EXAMINATION ROOM.
2. Do not leave a sheet of paper you have written on or your answers in such a position that another candidate can read them.  You should not give or obtain  unfair  assistance,  or  attempt  to  do  so,  whether  by  copying  or  in  any  other  way,  and  your  work  should  not  show  proof  of  such  unfair assistance.
3. No communication whatsoever in whatever manner between candidates or with outsiders is allowed during examination.






4. You are not allowed to have in your possession or in your proximity while in the examination room, any book, notes, papers or any other materials whatsoever except the correct question paper and any materials expressly authorised by the Kenya National Examinations Counci l.
5.  You may only use mathematical tables printed by the Kenya National Examinations Council, and these should not contain any additional notes except the printed information.  If you are using a slide ruler as permitted by the Regulations it should not contain formulae or other data that may give you undue advantage over other candidates.  If in doubt, check with the supervisor.






6.  You must return immediately to the Supervisor any incorrect question paper given to you.
7.  You must not take any used or unused writing paper out of the examination room.  Any rough work must be done on the official answer paper and; if not to be submitted with the answers, must be left on the desks to be collected by the supervisor and destroyed.
8. Disorderly conduct or the causing of disturbance in or near the examination room will be treated as a serious examination irregularity.
9. Note that cell phones are prohibited in examination rooms and the examination centre.  Any candidate caught in possession of a cell phone will have his/her results cancelled.

PENALTY FOR EXAMINATION IRREGULARITIES

1. The KNEC Act 2012 rules and regulations, offences and penalties stated in  sections 27 to 40  for cases of examination irregularities will apply. Some of the highlights in these sections state that:
2. A  candidate  who  commits  an  examination  irregularity  in  any  paper  will have  the  results  for  the  WHOLE  SUBJECT cancelled.   Such  a candidate will not be entitled to a result and will be awarded result “Y” overall.
3. If there is evidence of wide-spread irregularities in any centre, the whole examination results for the whole centre will be cancelled.

Any person who:-

• a)  Gains access to examination material and knowingly reveals the contents, whether orally or in writing, to an unauthorized party, whether a  candidate  or  not  will  violate  section  27  and  the  penalty  will  be  imprisonment  for  a  term  not  exceeding  ten  years,  or  a  fine  not exceeding two million shillings or both;
• b)  Wilfully  and  maliciously  damages  examination  material  will  violate  section  30  and  the  penalty  will  be  imprisonment  for  a  term  not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding five million shillings or both;
• c)  Is not registered to take a particular Council’s examination but, with intent to impersonate, presents or attempts to present himself to take the part of an enrolled candidate, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding two million shillings or both and shall be prohibited from taking an examination conducted by or on behalf of the Council for a period of three years.

 Candidates are therefore strongly advised not to engage in any examination malpractice that may lead to any of the above  actions taken against them.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Latest reports reveal that more than 200 private schools were shut down forever due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some have been turned to residential houses, hospitals, business centres and even chicken farms. It is not wrong to bow down to forces of nature when but we need to appreciate the thousands of innocent school-going children do not have schools to go back to.

Hundreds of Grade 4 learners, KCPE and KCSE candidates Reopened schools this week only to find classes full of chicks and their playfields planted with kales and spinach.

It is now clear that some candidates do not have centres where they shall write their national exams in March 2021. KNEC now says that candidates cannot change their examination centres this late.

The most reasonable and obvious thing they would do is to look for an alternative school and the public schools were not an easy pick.

Some candidates with the support and help of their parents had already secured admission to public learning institutions, partly because their previous schools were shut down or their parents could not afford the hefty fees charged in private schools.

It is amusing for education stakeholders as senior as Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) saying those unfortunate should have no option.

The only way for them is to wait for their school proprietors to consider reverting their businesses to schools.

What KNEC forgets is that it is its mandate to ensure that all registered candidates sit for their national examination in time, with or without examination centres.

Blocking them from joining new schools is not only counter-productive but also an act of consideration. Candidates are worried, their parents are bewildered.

It's only fair that an explanation and a solution is accorded to them.

Hundreds of learners are stranded after 15 schools were demolished in Nairobi, Mukuru Kwa Reuben to pave way for the construction of roads.

Over 300 students among them Kenya Certificate Of Primary Education (KCPE) candidates have been affected.

"I have seen some of my friends going to school, when they ask me why I am not going to school I tell them I cannot join them because we haven't been enrolled to any school yet." One of the affected learner Lavine Barasa said.

"Parents are bringing in their children stating that they want their children to learn here. We have nowhere to put them, that's why we have decided to look for good helpers." Said Sophia Muita, the school head at Bright Star Academy.

"People from this community survive from hand to mouth so what happens if they don't have jobs and they don't have schools, the community will perish in poverty." Roseline Asena a community worker in the region said.

For some like Lavine, his efforts to find a school to learn has been met with disappointments after another. The right to education has become a challenge after the school he was learning in was demolished.

A section of private primary and secondary schools has asked learners who have not cleared school fees to go back home. This comes a week after Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha advised schools not to send learners home for lack of school fees. Yet, prof. Magoha has now changed the theme and asked guardians to pay fees.

A parent in Nakuru County said that his child’s school had retained some of his son’s personal belongings for declining to clear fees for the disrupted 1st term. Records also reveal that a school in Nairobi county went further and blocked learners from entering their classrooms.

Education Cabinet Secretary Magoha has since urged parents to pay their fee balances noting that it is the only way they can expedite the learning of their sons and daughters.

“Parents are taking advantage, please take the little money that you have to school, if you go with nothing, you will have to be interrogated. If you can pay, then you must pay,” Magoha stated.

Professor George Magoha noted that he could not force private schools to support needy learners but only to plead with them. He urged parents who can not afford fees for private schools to enroll their children to public learning institutions.

“If you have no fees, come back to public school, we will take your child because the government has directed that we should have 100% transition,” the Education Cabinet Secretary said.

“For boarding schools, the tuition part is also free, the only fee that the parents pay is what the children consume in the house. And my teachers are not animals, they are ready to listen to those parents and we should treat every case as it comes,” he added.

Magoha’s remark comes days after some parents raised attention on their incapacity to raise school fees and purchase the basic learning materials for learners.

A circular by the Education Permanent Secretary Belio Kipsang dated 8th of October has stirred controversy among school heads in public primary and secondary schools.

School principals have expressed concerns over a government directive compelling all public schools to buy rice from the Kenya Trading Corporation.

The School heads say that the Education Ministry is out to create a monopoly, set prices in a price control compelling move to extremely buy rice at a very expensive rate.

The school heads association bosses now say Schools will have to negotiate the prices because the move by the Ministry of Education is a presidential directive.

Just days before the phased reopening of schools across the country, the Education Ministry now wants all public boarding schools to purchase their rice supply from the Kenya National Trading Corporation

This is said to be in line with the Buy Kenya Build Kenya Government Initiative as directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to empower the trading corporation to purchase all excess rice from Kano Plains and Mwea, to be sold to Disciplined Forces, Prisons Services and Public Schools.

The move has created a silent protest among a section of school heads across the country. School heads who sought anonymity warned the directive by the Ministry of Education was counterproductive and exposing schools to buying of rice at a very expensive rate that instead of saving the school money, they will be forced to pay more than they used to.

Kenya Primary and Secondary Schools Heads (Kepsha) led by chair Nicholas Gathemia and Kahi Indimuli says schools will now have to adjust accordingly to realities.

In Nairobi for instance, schools used to buy their rice at a market price of between ksh.5,200 to 6,000 per 50kg. But in the Ministry of Education memo, the schools will be compelled to purchase 50kg bag of rice at a rate between 8,000 and ksh8,250.

The school heads have questioned government logic of the government to force them to purchase rice at an 'exploitative rate' as well as the Buy Kenya Build Kenya Initiative given that they still purchase rice from local suppliers.

According to the price schedule issued by the Public Works Principal Secretary Gordon Kihalangwa on Nairobi, a package of 1kg of rice, Mwea grade one rice costs at Sh 160 while a 50Kg of the same grade is to be sold to public schools at Sh 8,000.

Mwea grade two will be sold at Ksh 155 for one Kg and 50kg of the sane will be sold at Sh 7, 750. Ahero Sindano rice will be sold at Sh 105 per kilogram which is equivalent to Ksh 5,250 fo 5kg, prices applicable to Nairobi, Central, Machakos and Wote regions.

In the Coastal regions, North Eastern, Rift Valley, Western and Nyanza, Mwea rice grade one will be sold at Sh 165 for a kg which sums up to 8,250 for 5kg. Mwea grade two will cost Ksh 160 for one kilogram which is equivalent to Ksh 8,000 for 5 kilograms. Ahero Sindano rice is to be sold at 110 per Kg.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of the Education Ministry releasing capitation funds to schools. Sh 13 Billion has been received in various secondary schools while Primary schools are in a recipient of Sh 1.1 Billion ahead of Monday's partial reopening.