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HomeGENERAL NEWSState asked to investigate how Sh3.7 billion was siphoned to ghost schools 

State asked to investigate how Sh3.7 billion was siphoned to ghost schools 




The government has been asked to investigate cases where the Ministry of Education may have spent Sh3.7 billion on ghost schools.

The Salvation Army, a Christian church and a global charitable organisation wants an audit done to prove if surely the ministry officials channelled money to bogus secondary schools.




Led by the Kenya West Territorial commander of the church Stephen Chepkurui, the church also wants the government to take action of containing the increasing number of schools some of which, he asserted, has been violating laws.




“The government must develop policies to ensure all loopholes used to steal public funds are sealed. They should also control the establishment of schools to ensure only those that meet standards are allowed to operate,” he said.

Chepkurui spoke during the commissioning of new classrooms at Makhwabuye on Thursday, where the church had built classrooms, toilets, boreholes and purchased desks and lockers for several schools in the region.




Many buildings in the school are said to have developed cracks, particularly due to the blasting of rocks in quarries around.

“All education stakeholders, including parents and sponsors of the various schools, must join hands to ensure money meant for the development of schools is used for intended purposes. We need to know how billions, in taxpayers’ money, was given to non-existent schools.” He added.




The Auditor-General Nancy Gathangu, in a report released on Wednesday, captured the same allegations. Inflation of student numbers and the creation of ghost schools by people were also reported.

These people, the Auditor-General’s report suggests that they could be working in cahoots with some criminal education officials, to steal public funds and resources




The reports state that payments were also made twice to some institutions in the larger scheme to siphon taxpayers’ money.

In an audit report by the Education Ministry released in 2020, the government lost billions of shillings through a trick that inflated the number of primary school children by 529,997.




Members of Parliament have been at the forefront calling for speedy investigations after the discovery of the same in Kakamega.

Led by Shinyalu MP Justus Kizito, Kwale County Woman Representative Zuleikha Hassan and Mathare North’s Anthony Oluoch, the lawmakers want the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate and apprehend the suspects involved in the acts.




“What surprises us is not the money lost, we are concerned about the silence of the investigative and prosecutorial agencies. Someone created these, wired, and collected money from these ghost schools,” said Kizito

In 2018, Mundeku Secondary School was amongst other bogus institutions in the ministry records. Belgut Kaptugen Starehe Boys in Belgut Sub-county, Kericho County (152 students), Ikonge DEB in Kisii Central, Kisii County (448 students) and Dol Dol Boys in Laikipia North, Laikipia County (64 students) were flagged,







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