The Ministry of Education has uncovered at least 87,000 ‘ghost’ learners in public schools following an ongoing nationwide audit of Basic Education institutions—an anomaly that may have drained up to Sh1 billion in taxpayers’ money.
According to an Auditor-General’s report, falsified enrolment figures have cost the country more than Sh4 billion in capitation funds over four years.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba during the Kenya Primary School Heads Association Annual Delegates Conference in Mombasa on November 12 2025.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba confirmed that thousands of fictitious learners and non-existent schools had been flagged in the ongoing verification exercise, warning that those responsible will face sanctions.
“We have so far uncovered 87,000 ghost learners in public schools. The government will take action against individuals who inflated enrolment figures. Heads must roll,” said Mr Ogamba.
The CS, however, emphasised that the ministry does not intend to “condemn people falsely,” noting that schools with major discrepancies are being physically inspected before punitive action is taken.
Mr Ogamba said his ministry is still holding almost Sh1 billion that has not been released because the numbers do not match.
“That would then indicate that previously, there could have been numbers that were higher than they should. So once we correlate that then now we hand it over for confirmation. Once verification is complete, those unable to explain discrepancies will face consequences. We are a country governed by rules,” said Mr Ogamba.
However, he acknowledged that the exercise has exposed inflation of learner numbers in some schools, warning that those responsible will face disciplinary action. The CS said the ministry is currently conducting a thorough verification of enrolment data to ensure that funding and resources are allocated based on accurate figures.
The CS said the audit aims to clean up school data and seal loopholes that have led to the misuse of public funds meant for children’s education.
In an interview with Nation , the CS said that after the verification, his ministry will hand over the data to investigators.
“We will hand over the report to people who have the capacity to investigate. But we are still working on the data,” explained the CS.
He said when there is a big discrepancy, the MoE sends a team to go and verify physically, adding that his Ministry does not want to incriminate people wrongly.
The revelations expose systemic failure in school data management. With only 600 Quality Assurance Officers and 200 auditors overseeing more than 53,000 basic learning institutions, the ministry says monitoring has been severely overstretched—worsened by lack of transport for officers in remote areas.
As of November 10, 246 primary and 102 Junior Schools had failed to submit updated enrolment data. All secondary schools have been cleared.
State Department for Basic Education Director-General Elyas Abdi said once verification ends, schools with questionable data will be isolated and inspected.
State Department for Basic Education Director-General Elyas Abdi during the 2025 Kenya Primary School Heads Association Annual Delegates Conference in Mombasa on November 11, 2025.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
“The verification exercise is set to confirm the number of students, the number of schools, and the status of our schools. The process has moved on smoothly. This will ensure that starting next term, we receive our capitation on time, without any delays,” said Prof Bitok.
Education PS Julius Bitok during the 2025 Kenya Primary School Heads Association Annual Delegates Conference in Mombasa on November 12, 2025.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit| Nation Media Group
Mr Ogamba told Daily Nation that the ministry would hand over the final verified lists to investigative agencies for further action.
“We do not have an over-enrolment of 1 million learners, as some claim. They are about 87,000 so far. But verification must be thorough to eliminate errors,” he said.
The CS postponed the official announcement of the audit findings for the fourth time, saying the verification was still incomplete. The exercise began on September 5, 2025.
The Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (Kepsha) national chairman, Mr Fuad Ali, said head teachers should not be blamed prematurely, pointing instead to failures in the National Education Management Information System (Nemis).
“There was a problem in Nemis. When we uploaded learner numbers, the capitation we received was always lower. Those errors did not come from us,” said Mr Ali.
He noted that the shift to the Kenya Education Management Information System (Kemis) had largely resolved the issue.
“We support verification. We want accurate data and timely capitation when schools reopen,” he added.
On November 5, while appearing before the National Assembly, Mr Ogamba said 10 schools across 10 counties were found to have no learners at all, raising concerns that they may still have been receiving government funds.
“We now have to check whether money had been previously disbursed to these schools to determine whether fraud occurred,” he said.
However, the National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula challenged the CS to take decisive action against his ministry officials who allowed public funds to be channelled to non-existent institutions.
“You have officers in your ministry in every county whose duty is to keep and continuously update school records and submit them to your ministry. Public funds have been wired to non-existent schools for non-existent learners. How many officers have you interdicted for this criminal act?” the Speaker asked.
However, the CS said it would be premature for his ministry to interdict its officers, yet they have not concluded the analysis. He said he cannot take action against anyone now based on the data because it is not conclusive.
“We have not interdicted anybody because we have not completed the analysis of the exercise. It would be premature for me to take action before the conclusion. Criminal culpability can only be taken by investigative agencies. But we will take administrative actions against officers whom we found culpable,” added Mr Ogamba.
The CS said his ministry is currently investigating staff who were involved, the bank accounts used, and the specific schools, counties, and sub-counties implicated in the fraud.
However, Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo questioned the pace of the probe, saying the ministry should already have identified those responsible.
“Why is it taking so long to trace them? You have found non-existent schools. Just pinpoint who paid money to these ghost institutions and throw them out of office. It is as simple as A, B, C,” she said.
Kitui South MP Rachael Nyamai said it was alarming that Sh1.1 billion appears to have been released in favour of non-existent learners.
“I am very disappointed. The CS also told us 934 schools have benefited from money he cannot verify. There is a problem. I think it is a huge cartel ensuring information is concealed. Even the CS may be facing serious challenges from people below him,” she said.
Kilifi North MP Owen Baya added that some ministry officers have overstayed in certain positions, enabling them to guard information and protect loopholes that facilitate the siphoning of funds.
“Unless you become ruthless and maintain a ruthless focus, money will continue disappearing in that ministry. Conduct a radical surgery; otherwise, our children will continue to suffer. We have county and sub-county education officers who have overstayed for over 10 years, protecting themselves,” said the MP.
The CS said he cannot sack individuals implicated before the conclusion due to litigation. Mr Ogamba asked for another two months to resolve the matter once and for all. The findings come as the Ministry moves to streamline the new Comprehensive Schools structure and rationalise capitation allocations.
Approved annual capitation rates are: Primary School: Sh1,420 per learner, Junior School: Sh15,042, while Senior School is Sh22,244.
So far, Sh1.1 billion in capitation remains withheld pending verification. In Third term, schools received:
Sh10 billion for Free Day Secondary School, Sh5.1 billion for Junior School and Sh1.7 billion for Primary School, totalling Sh16.5 billion.
The ministry has vowed to tighten monitoring and enforce strict data verification to prevent future losses through ghost learners and non-existent schools.
