New probe in theft of school funds

Fresh investigations have been launched into the loss of millions of shillings of free education funds.

Close to 20,000 schools – or 75 per cent of primary and secondary schools – countrywide are targeted in an expanded forensic audit of funding for the education sector. Also to be probed are education officials. The audit, tracking financial flows from the Finance and Education ministries, will go back four years to the 2006/2007 financial year.

Unlike the probe at the Education ministry, which focused on funds spent on workshops and seminars for teachers, the new investigation will dig into the entire Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (Kessp). More than Sh500 billion was earmarked for the five-year programme, whose first phase ends next month. The audit is expected to guide the ministry and donors in the second phase.

The investigation will focus on financial flows from the Education ministry to schools and how the money was utilised by officials in the chain, including teachers. News of the audit comes as schools reopen today before the government can disburse free learning funds to schools for the term.

Documents seen by Daily Nation show that 220 auditors, mainly from the Finance ministry, would be deployed to schools for the investigation, the most extensive since free primary education was introduced seven years ago. Acting Education Permanent Secretary Magdalene Wambua confirmed the audit would take place but said she was unaware of its extent.

Prime targets

“I do not have much information since we (Education ministry) are the ones to be audited,” she said. On the delayed disbursement of free learning funds, Ms Wambua said documentation regarding the funds had been handed to the Treasury. “We have done all we needed to.”

Staff involved in the new probe told Daily Nation that schools with high enrolment or those allocated huge amounts of money for additional classrooms will be the prime targets. The UK’s Department for International Development and US Agency for International Development that recently cut funds for the sector have promised financial support for the audit but the amount was still being negotiated, according to sources.

Already, desk reviews have taken place at the Finance ministry and were expected to shift to the Education docket and then to schools. Investigators said they expected to expose massive irregularities, much bigger than those uncovered in the earlier probe, whose findings raised suspicions that the rot could run much deeper.

According to available documents, the audit will scrutinise flow of money and all exchequer disbursements to schools. It will target corruption and prevention mechanisms in schools and at the ministry, the documents say. It will also review “quantified loss through misallocation, embezzlement, misappropriation and or direct theft.”

Investigators will dig into how institutions handled audit queries regarding funded projects. Institutions will also be quizzed over procurement procedures. Of particular interest will be transactions regarding imprests, direct payments, allocation and disbursement of funds to schools.

The scope of the audit means it will also investigate spending under former Education minister George Saitoti, who headed the ministry between 2003 and 2007. Prof Saitoti now holds the Internal Security docket. Current minister Sam Ongeri has said he could not account for expenditure incurred when Prof Saitoti was at the helm.

According to the documents, the study, initially scheduled to start on February 1 and end on April 26 was delayed because resources had not been made available. After information has been collected, meetings will be held in the provinces to validate the regional data, culminating in a national meeting after which the Finance and Education ministries will receive the final report.

Pressure

Education PS Karega Mutahi stepped aside after months of pressure to pave way for investigations, initially thought to target the Sh103 million embezzled by staff on fictitious workshops. But Prof Ongeri stayed put even after Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s suspension, later quashed by President Kibaki, saying he was not the accounting officer at the ministry.

An investigation by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission resulted in seven top officials of the Education ministry being charged in court. However, they account for the loss of only Sh34 million. More officials are expected in court after Attorney General Amos Wako accepted charges levelled against them by Kacc last month. Investigators said the officials wasted public money on fictitious workshops.