Chairperson Kenya Publishers Association, Kiarie Kamau addressing the media at the United Kenya Club on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. He has dismissed concerns over a shortage of Grade 9 Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) textbooks.
Publishers have raised the alarm over unpaid Sh11.4 billion owed to them, warning that further delays in settlement of the debt by the government could derail the timely printing and distribution of textbooks for Grade 10 learners ahead of the rollout of senior school in January 2026.
Speaking during a press conference, the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) governing council chair, Kiarie Kamau, revealed that the industry is facing a cash flow crisis that has disrupted the entire book production value chain.
According to Mr Kamau, the government has not paid publishers for textbooks already supplied to primary and junior schools. Senior school, under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system, will be rolled out in January.
“As of today, publishers are owed approximately Sh11.38 billion, broken down as Sh11.15 billion for books supplied to Grades 1-8 and Sh234.5 million for Grade 9. Because publishers have not been paid, they are unable to settle dues owed to key service providers, most notably printers, who are now owed an estimated Sh4 billion,” said Mr Kamau.
The KPA warned that the ripple effect of this debt has been severe, with many publishing houses struggling to stay afloat.
Clients seeking services at KRA headquarters, Times Tower, Nairobi.
Printers, authors, distributors, and even the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) have been affected as payments and tax remittances continue to stall.
“Operations within publishing houses have been severely constrained, with many struggling to meet day-to-day operational costs. The settlement of the Sh11.4 billion debt is therefore urgent and critical to enable publishers to print and distribute Grade 10 books, an exercise projected to cost an additional Sh2.5 billion,” said Mr Kamau.
Despite these challenges, the association confirmed that plans are underway for the next major textbook supply, scheduled between October and December 2025, targeting Grade 10 learners in senior secondary schools.
The national exercise will involve 21 publishing firms, collectively producing 35 different textbooks and literary works. Procurement of the textbooks is managed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), which also evaluates the content.
Prof Charles Ochieng’ Ong’ondo, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development director.
The CEO of the institute, Prof Charles Ong’ondo, acknowledged that the government owes publishers money under three-year contracts.
“KICD evaluated the Grade 10 books in April and followed the normal procurement process to award the tenders. Publishers incur own costs, and KICD pays them upon verification of delivery. The money has accumulated since 2023 and 2024 because some subjects were rationalised and new books had to be supplied,” Prof Ong’ondo told Nation.
He added that the ongoing data verification exercise being carried out by the Ministry of Education has also caused delays in payment, since the money is usually released together with capitation funds for schools.
