Mystery of Sh74m disbursed to Wings-to-Fly

TVET PS Esther Muoria before the Public Accounts Committee at Bunge Towers, Parliament, Nairobi on April 28, 2026. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] A House team is investigating disbursement of Sh74.7 million by the State Department of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVETs) to the Wings-to-Fly Equity programme during the 2023/2024 financial year. The National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is probing how the amount was disbursed to a private programme, whether the money benefited the intended 452 scholars under the programme and the criteria used. This comes in the wake of State Department of TVET Principal Secretary Esther Muoria's appearance before the watchdog committee to answer queries raised by the Auditor General. It noted that the payment of the Sh74.7 million in grants and transfers was made in respect to 452 scholars. The report however, highlighted gaps with the process, noting that management did not provide evidence of measures taken to ensure that the 452 scholars were actually the intended beneficiaries and instead, management relied on information obtained from the Consultant (EGF) before approving disbursements. Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, in her report, noted that 102 of the beneficiaries were awaiting placement by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) while 137 had no admission letters. "It was not clear why funds were released for the benefit of 239 scholars whose schools and reporting dates had not been confirmed. Management did not provide the current status report of the beneficiaries," the report read in part further noting that there was no budgetary allocation within the State Department for monitoring and supervising implementation of the Project. And during the heated session yesterday, questions abounded for the PS as the House team sought to understand the dealings and operations of the Department. "I fail to understand why the government would go to source for a grant and instead of giving it to public institutions, give it out to a private programme yet it is public money," said Funyula MP Wilberforce Oundo. Aldai MP Maryanne Ketany questioned why the funds had been disbursed to the beneficiaries whose schools were not confirmed and were yet to go to TVETs. She also wanted to know why, despite the existence of a Technical Training Institute in her Constituency, it had not gotten a single student despite the existence of a Kenya Medical Training Centre (KMTC) Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera claimed that money meant for TVETS had now been diverted towards funding universities and proceeded to question the government's priorities. Samburu West MP Lesuuda Naisula highlighted the lack of proper documentation details on the process noting that the committee needed to know how much money was allocated to each scholar. In her response, TVET PS Muoria explained that the funds disbursement was as a result of an agreement between the KFW Development Bank and the National Treasury of Kenya working closely with the Ministry of Education to support the Wings to Fly programme. "We have been operating on this agreement entered into 2021 and it is that which allowed for the disbursement of the funds in that manner. For the subsequent new agreement, I have however changed the clauses especially those allowing for money to be disbursed before the schools and reporting dates of scholars were announced," she said. Muoria also explained all beneficiaries under the project are drawn from the secondary school Wings-to- Fly beneficiaries who don't transit to university and are awarded scholarships to TVET for a course of their choice at preferred institutions. "During secondary school onboarding, scholars' personal, academic, and socioeconomic documentation is verified and validated. The beneficiaries of wings- to- fly for TVET are selected from this pool after expressing interest and obtaining admission letters from the institutions and placement by KUCCPS to complete the placement process," she observed. Dissatisfied with her submissions, the committee, led by Butere MP Tindi Mwale, directed that she submit the agreement and documents proving that the funds reached the intended beneficiaries in two weeks' time. "We want you to furnish the committee with all agreements and details of beneficiaries so that we can interrogate it. Madam PS, we are not saying that the programme is bad. It has helped so many children and we want to understand it," directed Mwale.

Mystery of Sh74m disbursed to Wings-to-Fly

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