Education Ministry denies swindling Sh180m leaders' money

The Ministry of Education has dismissed a budget report indicating that part of the Sh355 million for the Kenya Future Leaders Programme (KFLP) was used to pay 1,400 'ghost' volunteers.

The ministry stated that only Sh74.6 million was used in the first year of the project.

According to the disputed budget titled 'KFLP GoK Budget Financial Year 2014-2015', the expenditures for the programme were said to have been inflated 10 times, especially on the number of volunteers.

The budget shows that Sh100,800,000 was used to pay stipends to 1,400 volunteers; 175 in each of eight selected counties and Sh50.4 million to pay a similar number of host families. Another Sh2.4 million was spent on stipends for 100 schools, Sh7 million for volunteers' transport costs, Sh2.1 million on indemnity insurance and Sh5.76 million as disbursement fees.

In a statement, the ministry dismissed the alleged budget shared to the Press and widely circulated on social media as fictional. It said only Sh74,571,538 was used between September 2014 and September 2015 when the first phase ended. "Japan donated Sh350 million in the 2013-2014 financial year. This money was allocated two cohorts, with the first cohort of volunteers graduating in September 2015 and the second, larger cohort to be placed in 2016," read the statement.