CS Ogamba calls for action after audit exposes over 900K ghost learners
By Cynthia Lodite, February 13, 2026The Ministry of Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has ordered disciplinary and criminal action against education officials and school heads after a nationwide audit of learner records uncovered tens of thousands of ghost learners who have been draining the government of Ksh91 million annually.
In a press briefing on Thursday, February 13, 2026, Ogamba said the audit uncovered missing documentation and widespread discrepancies in enrolment data.
According to the verification report, public primary and secondary school enrollment reveals major discrepancies between the NEMIS records and actual student numbers, with 27 non-operational schools drawing millions of shillings.
In primary schools, 800,000 ghost learners were exposed as the learners could not be traced from schools despite their data appearing in the NEMIS system.
On the other hand, in junior secondary schools, registered learners were 500,000 more than those reflected in NEMIS records.
Ogamba said the ministry will immediately begin action against those responsible, starting with the first 20 schools posting the highest variance in student registration figures.
“We are not doing this function in futility. If culpability will be found, administrative and criminal action will be taken. That’s why we’re forwarding this report to the relevant agencies, TSC and DCI for action,” he said.
Disciplinary actions
Ogamba says the report has been forwarded to the Teacher Service Commission, TSC, and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, DCI, for action against 62 education officials.
This includes 14 headteachers for refusing to submit data, 20 headteachers for submitting student numbers beyond actual enrollment, and 28 education officers for various administrative failures.
“Administrative action is being taken against 28 sub-county directors of education and quality assurance and standards officers in areas where systematic failures or provisional lapses were established,” Ogamba said.
Ogamba said the verification exercise will now be conducted every school term to prevent manipulation of figures used for funding and planning.
The ministry will also shut down all non-existent or non-operational institutions identified during the audit, describing them as “ghost schools” that distort resource allocation.
To plug systemic gaps, the next phase will involve accelerating the transition from NEMIS to the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), which the ministry says will enable real-time learner registration and reduce opportunities for falsification.