NAIROBI, Kenya, May 27 – An Education Ministry official is on the scene after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission revealed he had misappropriated 11.1 million shillings earmarked for free education into his personal bank account.
The revelations came after an investigation by the anti-corruption agency into reports of embezzlement of public funds at the state Department of Early Learning and Basic Education, which alleged that said officer had fraudulently received funds for free secondary education in his personal bank. Account.
A report submitted to the EACC also alleged that the said employee inserted the name of a non-existent secondary school named Mundeku Secondary School in Khwisero Sub-County, Kakamega County in the final list of fund distribution schedule, and used his personal account to channel the funds.
During its investigations, the EACC established that the secondary school in Mundeku did not exist and that the alleged employee of the Ministry of Education was responsible for preparing the timetable for the distribution of funds, which included the number of students in each school, bank details and the amount each school would receive based on enrollment data.
“Investigations have established that the said employee inserted the non-existent Mundeku Secondary School into the funds distribution schedule and linked his Equity Bank account number to the Mundeku Secondary School bank account. He then received KSh. 11,131,305.53 from the ministry out of this arrangement,” reads an EACC notice.
It was also revealed that the said employee had misled his employer by submitting a fund distribution schedule containing misleading information about Mundeku Secondary School as the beneficiary, thereby causing a financial loss to the Ministry of Education.
According to the EACC, on March 3, 2022, they forwarded a compiled report to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) with recommendations to charge the Ministry of Education employee with the following offences: one count of abuse of power contrary in section 46, one count of deceiving the principal contrary to section 41(2); one count of fraudulent acquisition of public property in violation of section 45(1); one (1) count of dealing with suspect property contrary to Section 47(1), read in conjunction with Section 48 of ACECA; and one (1) count of forgery contrary to section 349 of the Penal Code.
The EACC said it is awaiting the DPP’s response.
