Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has attributed delays in the release of capitation funds to schools to an ongoing audit and verification exercise meant to weed out ghost institutions.
Appearing before the National Assembly on October 8, 2025, Ogamba explained that the Ministry of Education temporarily withheld part of the funds following revelations by the Office of the Auditor-General that some schools on the payroll were non-existent.
The issue was raised by Emuhaya MP Omboko Milemba through Gilgil MP Martha Wangari, who questioned the measures the Ministry was taking to ensure that all schools receive funds as national examinations approach.
Ogamba confirmed that an audit had exposed major irregularities in the allocation of education funds, prompting a nationwide verification of schools and learners. “The Office of the Auditor-General recently reported that some of the schools that received capitation from the Ministry were non-existent. The Ministry decided to undertake a comprehensive verification exercise to determine the actual number of schools and learners in the country,” he said.
As of October 7, 2025, the Ministry had verified and released capitation to 752 institutions — including primary, junior, senior, and special needs schools — covering 9.4 million learners.
On the funding status, Ogamba noted that Ksh10 billion out of Ksh10.3 billion had already been released, representing 96 per cent of the total allocation. For junior schools, Ksh4.1 billion out of Ksh5.7 billion (73 per cent) had been disbursed, while primary schools received Ksh821 million out of Ksh1.7 billion (48 per cent).
However, Nyeri County MP Rahab Mukami criticized the timing of the audit, saying it was disadvantaging candidates preparing for their national exams. She urged the Ministry to direct principals to recall candidates who had been sent home to ensure their preparation was not disrupted.
Ogamba assured lawmakers that the verification exercise was almost complete and that a full report would be released within a week.
