Envoys demand action against corrupt officials

By Augustine Oduor

Outrage greeted the revelation of fraud at the Ministry of Education, with calls for Minister Sam Ongeri to resign.

British High Commissioner Rob Macaire and his Canadian counterpart David Collins on Tuesday welcomed the audit report by Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta but termed the move "mere words not action."

The envoys were unhappy that since 2009 when the crimes were committed, no concrete action had been taken. The donors said cash meant for schools would still be channeled directly to schools to support education in the country and not through the ministry after the corruption experience.

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) Director Prof PLO Lumumba again added his voice and challenged Ongeri and the permanent secretary in the ministry to take political responsibility and quit.

"Why should the ministry leaders run away from responsibility claiming junior officers committed such crimes?" asked Lumumba.

Kenya National Union of Teachers on Tuesday also demanded action be taken against the minister.

"The minister should not issue thinly veiled threats to junior officers. He is as equally culpable as the officers," said union secretary general Okuta Osiany.

A 14-man team led by the head of investigations at CID headquarters Mohammed Amin has been formed to investigate the fraud.

CID Director, Ndegwa Muhoro, on Tuesday met the team and handed over the names of suspects.

On Tuesday, Macaire and Collins faulted leadership at the ministry.

"You can’t just say that it’s a few individuals who committed the crimes. There is also the question of the leadership of the institution as well," Macaire said at a press conference.

Political responsibility

He said: "There must be in any country a degree of political responsibility on individuals leading government organisations where such huge money can be stolen."

In his statement, Collins said: "Canada has been a lead donor in the education sector. Losses through mismanagement and corruption mean that we cannot support the ministry directly at the moment."

"We are exploring other options to support education in Kenya. We are disappointed with the Government’s response to this scandal, and hope to see greater commitment to addressing the problem," he said.

This year, Department For International Development(DfID)started supplying books directly to schools in a project that will see about 2.6 million textbooks worth Sh683 million distributed.

"We want to see electronic money transfer system in place. Paper work is very easy to adjust and amend or doctor,’ said Mike Harrisson, DfID deputy head of programmes.

Education PS James Ole Kiyiapi said stringent measures have been put in place to ensure no more loss of cash.

"We removed the ‘holding accounts’ where money was deposited before being released to schools. Once money leaves Treasury, we send it directly to school accounts," he said.

Kenya National Association of Parents Musau Ndunda said they raised the red flag but the Government took no action.