Ministry denies any textbooks funds wasted

By David Ochami and Beauttah Omanga

The Government has refuted reports regarding a textbook scandal in which Sh1.3 billion was lost, stolen or wasted.

But British aid agency, Department for International Development (DfID) put the Ministry of Education on notice, saying the move to withhold some funds following fraud was awake up call.

Education PS Karega Mutahi said 5.8 million textbooks donated or bought for Free Primary Education between 2003 and this year has been lost through political violence, poor storage and natural atrophy.

Reacting to our story published on Monday, DfID said it has not suspended funding the textbook programme but that the audit was ongoing on how the funds were spent.

The review team, a joint effort by the UK and Kenya National Audit Offices, has made recommendations to strengthen the programme and ensure robust controls to reduce losses.

"Along with other donors, we are taking recent evidence of fraud in the Ministry of Education involving donor funds seriously. If the Government does not take action against those responsible, we will respond appropriately," read a statement signed by Alistair Fernie, Head of DfID Kenya, British High Commission.

DfID, however, clarified preliminary reports so far on the textbook programme was impressive.

"Its preliminary findings indicate the textbook programme is working well – a robust and well planned programme monitored regularly, with most major risks having been identified and controls put in place. There is room for improvement," read the statement.

Joint report

The ministry will release the joint audit report once it has been finalised, said the donor.

The total loss has been quantified to be Sh1.3 billion, according to a report obtained by The Standard. It indicates the ministry has asked schools to prepare an inventory of all textbooks supplied under FPE since 2003.

The British government co-funds free education through DfID.

Reports show schools managers often conspire with suppliers to inflate cost of books, sold by firms in which they have interests. On Monday, the PS admitted the losses but denied they occurred due to corruption.

"What they have not told you is that these are not books that people came and took away," he said in Nairobi referring to the 5.8 million figure raised in the audit.

He added: "These are books that were carried away by students to their homes, were stolen or damaged due to poor storage."

He said the DfID report does not accuse ministry officials and head teachers of theft claims.

The PS said: "Last year, we lost hundreds and thousands of books during post-election violence."

He added textbooks worth Sh182, 000 were lost during the violent eviction of squatters in Marakwet East District early this year.

The PS also claimed that losses through wear and tear are natural for textbooks after three years.

The DfID maintained it has zero tolerance for the misuse of the UK taxpayers’ money in Kenya and globally.

It said it fully welcomes the Ministry of Finance’s own audit, saying it will help in the fight against corruption.

Big shock

Meanwhile, primary school head teachers gathered in Mombasa for an annual conference said they were shocked following revelations books worth more than a billion shillings were stolen or thrown away.

The Kenya Primary Schools Head Teachers Association official Joseph Karuga said: "This is the first time we are hearing about this claim and this is a shock to us."

Many head teachers said they were not aware of schemes to steal money meant for textbooks.

— Additional reporting by Ngumbao Kithi