An audit by the Office of the Auditor General has established that over Ksh16.68 million was sent to 14 ghost schools.
Appearing before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee, the Director in charge of Audit at the Office of the Auditor General, Justus Okumu, said that the county directors of education in the areas in question said they were not aware of the existence of the schools.
Okumu further told the PAC that a fact-finding mission to schools established that there was no infrastructure at the purported institutions and the only way they existed was through bank accounts through which they receive the capitation.
Moreover, six schools had ceased operations but received a capitation amounting to Ksh889,348 during the years under review.
He added that the current school capitation model for public primary schools, Junior Secondary, and institutions for learners with special needs is not equitable, citing a severe funding shortfall of Ksh117 billion.
The Special Audit established that there were instances where schools withdrew cash or transferred funds from tuition accounts, contrary to the guidelines issued by the State Department for Basic Education.
At the same time, the Auditor further questioned the integrity of NEMIS, stating that the discrepancies indicate weaknesses in data capture and validation controls, which may lead to misreporting, distorted resource allocation and challenges in policy implementation and oversight and may lead to fraud.
According to the auditor, these weaknesses will expose the State Department to risks such as unauthorised access to sensitive education data, data breaches, loss, manipulation of information, and inadequate response to security incidents.
The MPs have further stated that the systematic weaknesses of NEMIS have disenfranchised learners across the country and have called for its review.
