KENYA : A Nairobi Court has allowed police to detain a university graduate from Kericho accused of diverting money from the ministry of Education to his personal account and distributing the said money leaving nothing for the sleuths to recover.

Gideon Kibet Langat is said to have diverted Ksh 1,173,352 made to facilitate capitation in a primary school from the Ministry of Education to his account and then fraudulently transferred the money to the accounts of his accomplices.

Kibet is believed to have diverted the said funds from the Ministry of Education on January 22, 2025, the funds which were meant for Menet Primary School in Bomet County.

After successfully diverting the money, the brave suspect allegedly flew to Kericho Township where he was arrested and transferred to Nairobi.

Preliminary investigations have so far established that the scheme was a well planned fraud involving many suspects who are yet to be arrested.

Detectives have since launched a manhunt for his accomplices and beneficiaries, who helped him orchestrate the scheme.

Meanwhile, The government has allocated Sh48 billion for Grade 9 learners, Sh19 billion has been disbursed with Sh14 billion set to be released this week while the remaining funds will be disbursed later, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba has revealed.

Ogamba, spoke as he commissioned Grade 9 classrooms in a development tour of Kabete Constituency, Kiambu County where he also assessed textbook distribution.

The Cs, highlighted that 14,500 out of the targeted 16,000 junior secondary classrooms have been completed, with the remaining projects at various stages of completion.

“We have completed 14,500 of the required 16,000 classrooms. I will provide a full report on Friday, January 31, to confirm the progress,” the CS said.

The CS lauded President William Ruto’s administration of for its efforts towards ensuring equitable access to quality education.

“Under the leadership of our President, we have ensured all children in Kiambu County and across the country receive quality education. The Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) equips learners with universal skills to compete globally,” he said.

He commended the Kiambu County Government for ensuring the proper utilization of funds allocated to the education sector.

“We inspected these classrooms because, in some cases, funds are misused, and projects are incomplete. Here, we can confirm that the work has been done,” he said, urging the media to verify the completed projects.

Regarding textbooks, the CS announced that the government has published and distributed 9.9 million textbooks for grade 9 learners, fully funded to relieve parents of financial burdens.

“No parent should be asked to pay for textbooks, as the government has covered all costs to ensure equitable access to education,” he emphasized.

The CS also confirmed the employment of 76,000 Junior Secondary School teachers within two years, with an additional 20,000 to be recruited to address teacher shortages adding that training programs for teachers are ongoing to align with the CBC curriculum.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to providing adequate teachers and education infrastructure to ensure no child is left behind.