On Wednesday, January 3, President William Ruto responded to Azimio Leader Raila Odinga’s demands by authorizing the release of funds for school capitation.
State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohammed conveyed to Kenyans that the National Treasury had released Ksh31.34 billion in anticipation of the upcoming school reopening.
Out of this amount, Ksh4.74 billion was allocated to the State Department for Basic Education, specifically aimed at supporting free primary education for Term 1. Additionally, the State Department received Ksh7.6 billion to cater to capitation for Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).
The remaining funds are designated for various purposes such as school examinations and invigilation fees (Ksh2.8 billion) and free day secondary education (Ksh16.2 billion), as detailed by Hussein’s statement.
Azimio leader Raila Odinga, had accused Ruto of misleading information management within the education sector. He further highlighted that schools were grappling with inadequate resources, citing an outstanding owed amount of Ksh18 billion from the Financial Year 2022/2023.
Furthermore, Raila criticized Ruto for allegedly deceiving parents by claiming increased allocations to education and enhanced capitation for all learners under the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Demanding immediate action, Raila had gone ahead and issued an ultimatum to President Ruto.
“The government must release all the monies owed to schools. It must also release capitation at the approved rate of Ksh22,244 per child for the financial year 2023/2024,” stated Raila.
Raila also urged Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) and school Boards of Management nationwide to demand fair distribution of education funding, pledging support for such efforts.
Notably, Raila’s ultimatum came shortly after President Ruto complained about the opposition allegedly undermining his administration’s efforts.
