EACC on track probing how fictitious school got Ksh11m
Investigations into how an office at the Ministry of Education siphoned millions of shillings through a fictitious school, are at an advanced stage, the Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission (EACC) has said.
Unscrupulous officials at the ministry’s head office are on the spot for stealing cash meant for free primary and secondary education, using fictitious schools in the list of targeted beneficiaries.
The anti-graft body has exposed how a clerical officer (name withheld) at the ministry head office, allegedly stole Sh11,131,305 from the ministry’s coffers between August 2017 and June 2018.
“Investigations are at an advanced stage and once complete, we will forward the to the Director of Public Prosecutions for approval. The ultimate goal is to have those found culpable charged in court,” EACC spokesperson Yassin Amaro told People Daily yesterday.
Amaro added that a non-existent Mundeku Secondary School, said to be in Kakamega county, received funds meant for Free Day Secondary Education after the official allegedly listed it in the list of beneficiaries.
Investigations reveal that on August 22, 2017, the school received Ksh703,800 from the ministry, seven days later, the same account received Ksh781,470 in two transactions.
On January 5, 2018, the same account is said to have been credited with Ksh7,099,280, on May 10, 2018 it received Ksh195,939 and on June 18, 2018 another Ksh250,000 was sent to the account.
After receiving the cash, the suspect allegedly embarked on acquiring as- sets, where he bought a motor vehicle at Ksh2.5 million but upon request by EACC, the dealer repossessed the car enabling detectives to recover Ksh1.9 million from the dealer, after factoring in depreciation.
Further, the offcial, who was employed in 2010 and deployed a Kakamega county office as a clerk before moving to Nairobi, allegedly bought two parcels of land at approximately Ksh1.8 million while the remaining cash of Ksh7 million was withdrawn on diverse dates.
The officer is believed to have opened a personal bank account, which was
credited with the cash.
His dealings were busted when publish- ers contracted by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development could not locate the school while distributing textbooks paid for by the government.
National Assembly Public Account's committee probed the case and another one, where an officer inflated enrolment figures for some schools, in what occasioned an overpayment of Ksh103 million to 150 schools across the country.
The committee recommended that EACC probes the two cases and prosecute individuals found culpable.
