Education CS Julius Ogamba appears before the National Assembly on October 8, 20205. /PARLIAMENTEducation CS Julius Ogamba will on Wednesday be on the receiving end of MPs' fury over failure to honour a pledge he made before the House on the timely disbursement of capitation to schools.
The summons issued by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula followed a heated debate on Tuesday where MPs demanded that someone be held accountable over the delayed disbursement.
Wetang’ula asked majority leader, Kimani Inchug'wah, to ensure Ogamba appears before the House Wednesday afternoon to answer questions raised by MPs.
Schools will start closing from October 20, but many public institutions are expected to shut for the long December holiday without government funding.
Ogamba told the House last week that capitation would only be released to schools once the ongoing audit to weed out ghost institutions is complete.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula./HANDOUT
“To ensure transparency and accountability in utilisation of public resources, we decided that capitation will only be disbursed to schools that have been verified,” Ogamba told MPs on Wednesday, October 8.
However, MPs on Tuesday expressed outrage that the Education Ministry had not honoured its commitment, accusing Ogamba of taking Parliament lightly.
They argued that the failure to release funds had plunged schools into a financial crisis, disrupting operations and exposing learners to unnecessary suffering.
Marakwet East MP David Bowen said capitation should be treated as a recurrent expenditure rather than a discretionary item subject to delays.
“The CS for Education was here last week and made a promise to release funds for all learners. Why has this not been fulfilled?” Bowen asked.
He urged the Budget Committee to prioritise capitation as it does salaries for civil servants, saying, “Learners are struggling and children are suffering.”
Gilgil MP Martha Wangari warned that the delay could mask deeper problems in the ministry.
“Beginning next week, Form Two and Three students are being released to go home, so the money set to be released will go to which expenditure?” she posed, suggesting there could be a smearing scandal in the ministry.
Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah said the National Assembly has a duty to provide meaningful oversight on the executive, insisting that commitments made before the House must be respected.
“When Cabinet Secretaries appear before the plenary or committees, they are doing so to answer questions raised by Members of Parliament. What they pronounce before the House must be done,” he said.
Ichung’wah added that if the delay was due to verification challenges, the ministry should have released part of the funds.
“It is not 100 per cent of the students who are not legitimate. If the challenges lie with the National Treasury, then the CS should say so,” he added.
Minority Leader Junet Mohamed warned that Parliament will not hesitate to exercise its constitutional mandate should the Education CS fail to provide satisfactory answers.
During his appearance last week, Ogamba promised to tackle the ongoing lecturers' strike, release capitation money and resolve other issues in the ministry but they have yet to be addressed.
