National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has assured school heads that the government will disburse Sh48.8 billion as capitation to their schools next week.
Mbadi said this would be half of the capitation to schools this academic year and that the rest will be paid out as the year advances.
He said the delay in disbursements had been occasioned by lack of adequate funds due to debt challenges the country is currently facing.
“Therefore, schools, please don’t worry. I am giving you my word that Sh48.8 billion for capitation will be in your school accounts because we are releasing it next week,” Mbadi told journalists in Garsen constituency Thursday.
School administrators have been worried about the delay in disbursing the capitation funds, with some sending away students for fees to finance their operations. The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education gave the government seven days to disburse the funds to avoid paralysis in schools.
The CS announced that the country had paid her Sh70 billion loan obligation this week and that his next priority is the capitation to school, which he committed to settle next week.
Mbadi at the same time said the National Treasury would disburse Sh30 billion owed to counties for the month of December before the end of January, besides paying Sh75 billion in salaries to civil servants.
County governments have been crying foul over the late disbursement of funds meant for the devolved units, with some resorting to borrowing from commercial banks to pay for basic needs such as county government workers.
Mbadi, who commissioned a Sh11 billion water project that will serve 300 households and 1,800 livestock, candidly addressed the challenges facing the country and emphasised the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in managing the country’s finances.
“There is nothing to hide about the finances of Kenya. I am speaking to Kenyans openly because it is important that there is transparency and accountability,” he said.
Mbadi said the country has a bill of about Sh250 billion to pay in January, yet the country was collecting between Sh120 billion and Sh130 billion, hence the need for patience.
“Indeed, there is a problem, but as your cabinet secretary in charge of the National Treasury, I am going to make sure that I distribute money in a way that does not bring problems to this country,” he said.
By Emmanuel Masha and Janet Dhahabu