MPs outraged as Education CS reveals Sh1.1 billion paid to ghost students in public schools
The CS explained that no ministry officers had been interdicted because the verification exercise, which began on September 5, 2025, was still ongoing.
Members of Parliament expressed outrage on Wednesday during a National Assembly plenary after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba revealed that the government had been releasing Sh1.1 billion to ghost students in public schools.
CS Ogamba told MPs that 934 schools had yet to submit their data for verification, while 10 schools had already been closed after being found to have no students.
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"Mr Speaker, I had difficulties making that decision because the exercise is not complete. I have indicated here that there are another 934 schools that have not submitted their data."
The CS explained that no ministry officers had been interdicted because the verification exercise, which began on September 5, 2025, was still ongoing. He added that the government needed time to complete the exercise, prepare a comprehensive report, and identify where crimes had been committed before forwarding the findings to investigative agencies.
"How much time do you require, Minister?" posed Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.
"We want to ask for exactly two months because we are undertaking exams that will end on November 21, then I will come back here with a report. This is not something that started in September. It is something that has been going on in this country for a long time," said Ogamba.
Speaker Wetang’ula pressed Ogamba to clarify what action had been taken against officers, noting that officials are responsible for maintaining school records, yet public funds had been wired to non-existent schools and students. "You have officers who have a duty to keep and update records of schools continuously, that public money has been wired to non-existent schools for non-existent students, how many of your officers have you interdicted for doing this criminal act?" he asked.
Ogamba emphasised that it would be premature to discipline staff before confirming the full details of any offences and assured MPs that action would be taken at the conclusion of the verification exercise.
"We have not interdicted anyone because we have not completed the exercise. Once we complete the exercise, we will know who is involved, which bank account was used and which sub-county is affected," he said.
However, MPs were not satisfied with his explanation. Minority Whip Millie Odhiambo said the CS appeared complicit and argued that it should be straightforward to identify officers responsible for corruption in non-existent schools and remove them from office immediately. "Mr. Speaker, from what the CS is saying, honestly that does not take even two days," said Odhiambo. "It does not need days, if something is going wrong and we have identified where there is corruption, just pinpoint which school was non-existent and identify which officer and throw them out of office."
The disclosures sparked a heated debate in Parliament, with MPs criticizing the slow pace of action despite evidence of widespread corruption.
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