A major scandal has rocked the Ministry of Education after Members of Parliament revealed that part of a Sh1.3 billion school infrastructure fund was disbursed to non-existent schools in what lawmakers are calling a “well-orchestrated fraud.”
The fund, intended to upgrade learning facilities in public schools across the country, was reportedly diverted to ghost institutions — schools that exist only on paper, complete with fake enrolment numbers and fabricated locations.
The damning revelations emerged during a Parliamentary Education Committee session on Thursday, where Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba was grilled over how the money was allocated.
Ghost Schools Received Millions
Luanda MP Dick Maungu led the charge, presenting a list of four questionable schools. According to him, Bomet High School and Kamuret Secondary School — both of which reportedly do not exist — each received Sh50 million in infrastructure funding.
The other two institutions, Olbutyo Boys and Olbutyo Girls, are located within the same vicinity, raising additional concerns about fairness and duplication in the funding process.
“There is a dark area in the infrastructure funding. Names of schools that did not come from this House found their way into the list and were given millions of shillings,” Maungu told the committee.
He alleged that rogue officials at Jogoo House, the Ministry’s headquarters, manipulated the official school list approved by Parliament, inserting ghost schools and blocking real institutions from receiving funds.
“You oversee a ministry full of cartels. Several schools that were on the approved list received nothing, yet ghost schools walked away with millions,” Maungu added.
Calls for Independent Investigation
Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo called for an immediate and independent investigation, arguing that the infrastructure fund fiasco likely reflects deeper rot within the Ministry of Education.
“You are running a ministry that should be branded a cartel. If the infrastructure fund can be siphoned this way, it therefore means that capitation is worse,” he said.
Gisairo warned that if left unchecked, the corruption could jeopardize future allocations for crucial programs such as free primary and secondary education, school feeding schemes, and bursaries.
Ministry Responds with Promises of Action
In his response, Education CS Julius Ogamba said he had already ordered internal investigations and would personally lead a verification exercise to confirm whether all listed schools exist.
“I have given clear instructions that we need the full list. We will visit these schools to ascertain whether they physically exist or not,” Ogamba told the committee.
He pledged to hold accountable any officials found guilty of manipulating funding data.
