Blame Game Over Missing Free Learning Cash

Samuel Siringi and Dave Opiyo

17 June 2011

Nairobi — Fresh questions have arisen over the accuracy of figures of the free learning programme funds stolen following a Sh400 million discrepancy by top government officials.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has stated that the amount lost through corruption by Education ministry officials was Sh4.6 billion.

But Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta and his Education counterpart Sam Ongeri have insisted the funds lost stood at Sh4.2 billion.

The minister’s explanation is not supported by the report prepared by Treasury internal auditors.

The report, Extended Foresinc Audit of Kenya Education Sector Support Programme, tabled by Mr Odinga said the figure was Sh4.6 billion.The release of the report has also triggered a turf war in the fight against corruption after it emerged that the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (Kacc) was uncomfortable that Mr Kenyatta sidestepped the agency to hand over the report to the police.

The agency’s director Patrick Lumumba was the first to attack the government over its timing in releasing the report, accusing it of reacting to pressure from World Bank officials who were in the country.

Prof Lumumba termed the report a public relations exercise and asked Prof Ongeri to resign together with his permanent secretary James Ole Kiyiapi.

Yesterday, Mars Group executive director Mwalimu Mati criticised Mr Kenyatta for forwarding the list of those behind the free primary education money scam to the police for investigations instead of the anti-corruption watchdog.

Kacc had already began investigations into the matter.

“By giving the police to investigate the matter, these people just want to kill this case like they did with for instance the Goldenberg case,” said Mr Mati in a telephone interview.

“What happened at the time with the case, the President gave the Attorney General the report for action. This was given to the CID department which falls under a minister who was one of the suspects,” he added.

He went on: “The same has also been done with Anglo Leasing cases and several others. I have reliably learnt that the CID officials have requested Kacc to assist them in conducting investigations.”

On Friday, the official said he believed the Sh4.6 billion figure given by Prime Minister Raila Odinga as having been lost in the fraudulent scheme was correct.

“It is not the auditors who went around and did their investigations. They looked at the accounts, the books purchased, the ghost projects amongst others and put a figure to it which the PM rightly put at Sh4.6 billion,” he said.

“The Finance minister is prone to errors like we all know before. At this rate, I don’t think we should entrust him with figures anymore,” he added. Mr Mati said those behind the fraudulent scam should be immediately brought to book.

Qualified officials

‘With these stolen funds, one can be able to purchase at least two textbooks for all students in the country. We shall no longer sit down and watch this go down the drain…this is unacceptable,” he noted.

Mr Kenyatta’s spokesman Munyori Buku defended the decision to offer the findings to the police, arguing the agency should be the last to complain since it had not done a good job on the investigations since the case first came up in 2009.

Instead, Mr Buku said Kacc should be happy that another government agency was complimenting its work.

“If everything was taken to Kacc, the agency will not manage the enomity of the work,” he said.

“Even with all its qualified officials, the agency has been with the matter for long but achieved little,” he said.Officials at Kacc had not received the Treasury report by late Thursday.

Some officials at the agency were quick to point out that the free learning case could be killed like another that involved the loss of funds to resettle post-election violence victims.

Investigations into the post-election violence funds loss went inert soon after it went out of the hands of the police.

Kacc is also unhappy that a file involving a Sh1.6 billion case regarding the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) was also handed over to the police.

The agency had investigated and closed the case.

Prof Ongeri was ordered by Parliament to correct figures on the amount of money lost in his ministry and to present them in Parliament afresh. Prof Ongeri was spared the questioning by MPs when temporary Speaker Ekwee Ethuro asked him to get the figures and prepare for a fresh presentation to the House.

“It (the figure) is very clear in your head but you’re responding to members’ questions. The figures coming from your ministry this week have not been clear,” said Mr Ethuro.

MPs put the minister to task over the scam in which funds meant for the Free Primary Education programme were stolen. Prof Ongeri put the figure lost at Sh4.2 billion and not Sh4.6 billion as stated by Mr Odinga when he tabled the Treasury’s audit report on Wednesday.

He said Sh2.2 billion could not be accounted for through the Financial Management Reports while a further Sh1.9 billion meant for the development of infrastructure had been lost.

The minister’s defence was that the bulk of the money was stolen before he assumed the post in early 2008 and that he ordered the audit himself after detecting that all was not right.

“This is a matter I have dutifully resolved to solve and it would appear a case of the proverbial hunter has become the hunted. Nowhere in the report has my name been mentioned,” he said.

“My conscience is free and clear and I have done the best to my ability. I realise that this being an election year, some people might be out to (besmirch) my name,” he added.

He said the figures in the public domain were wrong and were intended to put him in bad light. The audit by the Treasury covers the period between July 2005 and end of June 2009.

Prof Ongeri told MPs that the administrators in 512 of the 26,000 primary schools countrywide were the culprits, in addition to senior staff at the ministry.

Treasury conducted the full audit after one by internal auditors at the ministry showed the discrepancies, initially put at Sh8.2 billion. The minister said the chief financial cccountant, the principal accountant, his deputy and the internal auditor were sent home after the initial audit and would need to be recalled to give evidence.

This was in response to a query by Nominated MP Musikari Kombo, who wondered how the ministry could properly investigate the scam when the employees were still in office. Acting chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Dr Julius Kones, said the team would study the audit report and prepare recommendations for the rest of the House.

Bura MP Abdi Nuh said the country should be disappointed with the government as it had only released the audit report due to pressure from the World Bank.

Juja MP William Kabogo had asked Prof Ongeri whether he had recommended that the minister in charge, when most of the money was stolen, take political responsibility.

Additional reporting by John Ngirachu

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