Six more national schools’ heads and accounting officers are expected to face a parliamentary committee on Tuesday next week to answer various audit queries raised by the Auditor-General covering four financial years from 2021/2022 to 2024/2025.
Principals and accounting officers of Moi Forces Academy, Precious Blood Riruta, Nyeri High School, Thika High School, Our Lady of Mt Carmel Maryhill Girls and Kahuhia Girls will face the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education from next week.
Awaiting the schools before the committee are questions ranging from extra levies charged to parents, school borrowing, payments to the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA), procurement, textbook distribution, variance in the actual number of students registered by the school and those whose details are in NEMIS, and weaknesses in financial controls.
The details of the schools’ audit queries are contained in the Nancy Gathungu reports for the four financial years that are currently being examined by the Luanda MP Dick Maungu-chaired committee.
For Nyeri High School, the question on the payment of Sh542,700 to KESSHA awaits the school before the lawmakers.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group
The Auditor-General, in her report, has described the association as a private welfare organisation that draws its membership from school principals and is not subject to the PFM Act 2012 or any other public finance regulations.
“The organisation is not defined in Government Funding and there is no assurance that it has implemented effective, efficient, and transparent financial management and internal control systems to manage the funds transferred by schools,” reads the audit report.
“In the circumstances, value for money transferred to KESSHA amounting to Sh542,700 could not be confirmed,” Ms Gathungu says in her report before the committee.
Last week, the committee heard that KESSHA receives approximately Sh6 billion annually from high schools, an amount that is not under the purview of the Auditor-General.
According to the report, the school also does not have ownership documents for the 75 acres of land where it sits.
Management explained that the land where the school is built and which it has occupied for the last 100 years is owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri.
The school will also face questions on the excess supply of books, as the report indicates that it received 4,020 books from the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), while the number of students taking the various subjects was 2,058, resulting in an unexplained 1,962 excess textbooks in the school library.
For Moi Forces Academy, an explanation for the Sh5.2 million in unsupported expenditure used for infrastructure development awaits the school management before the committee.
The Auditor-General says the amount was spent despite not being budgeted for in the year under review, as required by the PFM Act.
The school will also face questions over the Sh2 million it transferred to KESSHA, an organisation which the Auditor-General says is not recognised in the funding system.
Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls High School Chief Principal Jane Njuguna (left) and school bursar Rachael Wambui appear before the National Assembly's Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education, chaired by Luanda MP Dick Maungu Oyugi, at Bunge Tower in Nairobi on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation
Also awaiting the school is the question of the exact number of students it has, as the audit shows that the number listed in its database differs from the number found upon physical count.
According to the audit report, the school listed 2,110 and 1,868 students between July and December 2024 and January and June 2025, respectively.
However, the report indicates that the number of students registered in the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) was 1,914 and 1,523 for the same periods.
This means that a total of 196 and 346 students were unregistered during the periods between July and December 2024 and January and June 2025, respectively.
“In the circumstances, the accuracy of students’ enrolment data could not be confirmed, which may result in overstatement of students’ numbers,” reads the audit report.
The school will also face questions over irregularities in the procurement of the school bus, irregular payment of sitting allowances to board members and engagement of casual employees beyond the stipulated period.
Luanda MP Dick Maungu Oyugi of the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education on Thursday, February 19, 2026.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation
For Our Lady of Mt Carmel Maryhill Girls High School, MPs will be demanding answers on unsupported expenditure of Sh43 million related to infrastructure, boarding and school fund expenses.
The Auditor-General says the expenditure was not supported by relevant documents such as user department requisitions, professional opinions, and inspection and acceptance reports.
Like other schools, the school will also be required to answer questions over why it transferred Sh1.8 million to KESSHA.
According to the report, the school was to charge Sh109,067 for Form One students, Sh99,067 for Form Two, Sh99,067 for Form Three and Sh99,554 for Form Four students per year during the period under review.
However, the school charged an extra Sh40,513 for Form One students, Sh30,513 for Form Two, Sh30,513 for Form Three and Sh31,000 for Form Four students without approval from the Ministry of Education.
The committee began the audit exercise on the expenditure of taxpayers’ money by public schools. Schools formerly classified as national schools, now in Cluster One (C1), will also undertake scrutiny of the books of accounts of other public secondary schools before tabling a report in the House for consideration.
