
School Heads, CBC Contractors Colluding To ‘eat’ Almost Sh500,000 For Every Facility – Magoha
As Education CS George Magoha hurries to finish the construction of CBC classrooms, he has disclosed tricks used on the money disbursed.
Magoha revealed that the cost of construction was reduced while commissioning four CBC classrooms at the Nairobi School.
He previously stated that classrooms were built at a cost of Sh1.2 million per classroom.
“I hope that we don’t go back to basically stealing almost 500,000 from every classroom because you are stealing that money from a child,” Magoha said.
Magoha chastised some school principals and contractors for conspiring to ‘eat’ nearly Sh500,000 for each facility.
The Ministry of Education reports that 8,300 classrooms have been built across the country at a cost of Sh788,000 per class.
“That is the transformative shift but a prophet is never recognized in his area, many years to come you will be able to compare the price difference,” he said.
This means that the total budget is Sh6.5 billion at the subsidized price, which would have been Sh9.9 billion initially.
Taxpayers have saved Sh3.4 billion as a result of the new cost of classroom construction.
“I just hope that we don’t go back to that kind of impunity because we are basically stealing from ourselves,” Magoha warned.
He also dismissed critics who questioned why he had to personally commission the CBC classrooms.
According to Magoha, the nature of Kenyans does not allow one to sit in the office and expect things to run smoothly.
“People don’t like me going out to confirm, I will not trust you until I go and see the building, like where I am now I know the building is here,” he said.
In his final days as Education Secretary, Magoha thanked President Uhuru Kenyatta for prioritizing education.
The education sector received the most money from the national budget in the fiscal year 2022/2023, receiving Sh544 billion.
“The President has given us 26.9 percent of the budget and we thank him for that; our challenge is how that money is used,” he added.
Magoha promised to keep commissioning CBC classrooms until it was time for him to leave.
He stated that by the time he leaves, nearly 8,500 CBC classrooms will be operational.
“For example, if someone goes to court, by the time they’re done, I’ll have finished my work,” Magoha explained.
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According to the Education CS, the second phase of CBC classes is at 58% nationwide.
He stated that the Western and Rift Valley regions are still at 50%, while Nyeri county is at 88%.
Magoha urged the incoming government to spend the funds allotted to the education sector wisely.
School Heads, CBC Contractors Colluding To ‘eat’ Almost Sh500,000 For Every Facility – Magoha