Pressure is mounting on President William Ruto’s administration following fresh claims of widespread financial irregularities in the education sector, with rights activists now demanding investigations, accountability and sweeping reforms over the existence of claimed ghost schools and ghost learners benefiting from public education funds.

A civil society lobby led by education activist Davies Okombo has petitioned President Ruto and Members of Parliament (MPs) to urgently address what it describes as systemic failures within the Ministry of Education (MoE) that have contributed to the loss of billions of shillings meant for learners.

The petition comes at a time when Kenya’s education sector is facing a deepening funding crisis, with schools across the country struggling with delayed capitation, mounting debts and operational constraints that have disrupted learning in public institutions.

Speaking during a press briefing on Friday, May 8, 2026, Davies accused senior education officials of presiding over a broken accountability system that has enabled public funds to be siphoned through fictitious institutions and non-existent learners.

“We do not operate bank accounts. Ghost learners do not sign forms, and ghost schools do not operate bank accounts. This clearly demonstrates that there is a systematic failure at the Ministry of Education and also in schools that has led to the theft of public funds that are made for the Kenyan child,” he said.

The activist further called for the immediate resignation of the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Julius Ogamba, arguing that the ministry had failed to safeguard resources allocated to vulnerable learners.

“We want to call upon the CS for Education to resign with immediate effect because he has let down the Kenyan child. He has no business sitting at Jogoo House when millions and billions of public funds are being stolen by his senior officers,” he stated.

The accusations have intensified scrutiny over the management of education funds amid growing concerns that chronic underfunding in schools may partly be linked to corruption, inflated enrolment figures and weak oversight systems within the ministry.

Education funding bane

In recent months, school heads and education stakeholders have repeatedly warned that delayed and insufficient capitation disbursements are crippling operations in both primary and secondary schools. Some institutions have reportedly struggled to pay suppliers, sustain feeding programmes and maintain learning activities.

The ghost schools controversy now threatens to deepen public anger over how education resources are managed at a time when parents are grappling with rising costs of living and schools continue to appeal for additional funding.

Davies also called on investigative agencies, including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to launch comprehensive probes into the alleged theft of public education funds.

“We want to call upon the EACC and the DCI to launch investigations to prosecute the officials concerned with this theft so that we can have asset recovery. Every shilling that is stolen from a Kenyan child can be returned to the public,” the educationist appealed.

The demands for investigations reflect growing pressure on anti-graft institutions to crack down on corruption within the education sector, which consumes one of the largest portions of Kenya’s national budget annually.

The educationist argues that discrepancies in learner data and school registration systems have, for years, exposed the sector to manipulation, particularly in the disbursement of capitation funds tied to student enrolment numbers.

Concerns have also been raised over weak auditing mechanisms and fragmented bursary programmes managed by different government entities.

Beyond investigations, the rights group is now pushing for structural reforms aimed at streamlining education financing and improving transparency in the allocation of bursaries and capitation funds.

Davies urged President Ruto and Parliament to initiate legal reforms that would consolidate various education support schemes into a single national education fund.

“I wish to call upon His Excellency the President and also the National Assembly to begin with immediate effect legal reforms so that all these funds that are fragmented for education can be consolidated into one national education fund,” he said.

He cited multiple funding streams, including presidential bursaries, Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocations and county government education support programmes, as examples of fragmented systems that could be merged to improve accountability and efficiency.

According to the activist, consolidating education financing could help Kenya fully implement free secondary education and uphold constitutional guarantees on access to learning.

“That will ensure that Kenya is ready to implement free secondary education in order for us to bring into effect Article 53 of the Constitution, which guarantees free and compulsory basic education for every child,” he added.

The latest demands place renewed political pressure on the Kenya Kwanza administration, which has repeatedly pledged to reform the education sector and improve governance in public institutions.

Recent disclosures show that funding for 379,858 university and TVET students hangs in the balance due to a Ksh32.9 billion deficit in the current academic year.

The State Department for Higher Education revealed that only Ksh41.5 billion was allocated against a requirement of Ksh74.4 billion to support over 1.1 million students.

Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala told lawmakers that the available funds can only cater to 650,267 students, leaving nearly half a million eligible applicants without support.

“The proposed supplementary budget allocation of Ksh4.1 billion will support 74,031 students at an average of Ksh55,639 per student. This will leave 379,858 students not funded,” she said.