How a Clerical Officer Created a ‘Ghost’ School and Pocketed Sh11 Million Free Education Funds from Gov’t

A clerical officer at the Ministry of Education is being investigated for allegedly defrauding the government of Sh11 million.

The officer, who is based at the ministry’s head offices in Nairobi, is said to have created a nonexistent secondary school in Kakamega county in order to receive funds from the government.

Investigations by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) revealed that the suspect registered the school as accommodating 1,188 students and included it in the list of secondary schools meant to benefit from Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) funds.

In a report, EACC says the officer then opened a personal bank account at Equity Bank which received Sh11,131,305.53 FDSE funds between August 22nd, 2017, and June 18th, 2018.

“The officer’s dealings were uncovered when publishers contracted by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) could not trace the school on the ground while distributing the textbooks,” EACC says.

The agency established that the officer was employed by the Ministry of Education in 2010 and deployed to Khwisero Sub-County in Kakamega County as a clerk.

He allegedly used Sh2.5 million of these proceeds to buy a vehicle that was later repossessed by the dealer upon request by EACC. The anti-graft agency says it was able to recover Sh1.9 million from the car dealer after factoring in depreciation.

Further to this, the suspect also acquired two parcels of land for Sh1.8 million and withdrew the remaining Sh7 million in cash on diverse dates.