- Gathungu has flagged illegal fees and financial lapses in elite schools, including Alliance High School, Mang’u High School and Friends School Kamusinga, over unauthorised levies totalling tens of millions of shillings.
- Gathungu questioned procurement practices at Alliance Girls High School, including a Sh1.32 million bakery equipment purchase and a Sh10.19 million dormitory project lacking supporting documents.
- The Auditor flagged a 316-student discrepancy between NEMIS and County Director of Education records at Thika High School, linked to an estimated Sh2.6 million in capitation underfunding.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has raised fresh concerns over illegal fees, questionable expenditure and financial management irregularities in some of Kenya’s leading secondary schools.
The findings are contained in audit reports covering the financial year ended June 30, 2025, and have placed school administrators and Boards of Management under increased scrutiny over the collection and utilisation of funds from parents and the government. Among the key concerns raised by the Auditor-General are unauthorised levies imposed on parents, procurement irregularities, unsupported expenditure and weaknesses in financial documentation.
At Alliance High School, parents contributed Sh42.25 million through a Parents Association support programme. The audit found that contributions of Sh30,792 per student in March 2024 and a further Sh26,000 in 2025 had not received the required approval from the Ministry of Education. Mang’u High School was also flagged after parents paid Sh55.95 million in additional levies, including Sh46,082 per student for a support programme that had not been approved.
At Friends School Kamusinga, the school collected Sh32.69 million through a Sh10,000 development levy per student without the necessary authorisation. Other institutions cited for unauthorised charges include Nakuru High School, Uthiru Girls High School, Machakos School and Moi Forces Academy.
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The audit findings come at a time when the government has reiterated that schools should not impose charges outside the approved fee structures, with the Ministry of Education requiring additional levies to receive the necessary approval before they are imposed on parents.
Gathungu also raised concerns over procurement practices in some schools, including inadequate documentation, questionable supplier selection and expenditure where auditors could not establish whether taxpayers received value for money. At Alliance Girls High School, auditors questioned the procurement of bakery equipment worth Sh1.32 million, including a commercial dough mixer costing Sh660,000. The audit also raised queries over Sh10.19 million spent on a dormitory project because key supporting documents were missing.
The latest findings add to previous audit concerns involving some of the country’s prominent schools. Earlier audits had flagged institutions including Starehe Boys Centre, Loreto Kiambu Girls High School, Thika High School, Shimo la Tewa High School and Nakuru Girls High School over unauthorised fees, uniform procurement and discrepancies in student records. At Starehe Boys Centre, for instance, parents were found to have been charged between Sh140,000 and Sh300,000, despite the government-approved fee for Category A boarding schools being Sh67,244 unless additional approval was granted.
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The Auditor-General has also raised concerns over discrepancies in learner data submitted through the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), which can affect the amount of government capitation received by schools. At Thika High School, NEMIS records showed 1,728 learners while the County Director of Education had recorded 2,044, a difference of 316 students. The discrepancy was linked to an estimated Sh2.6 million in underfunding.
The audit findings are likely to intensify calls for stronger oversight of school finances, particularly as parents continue to face pressure from rising education costs. The revelations also put the spotlight on the role of Boards of Management and school heads in ensuring that all funds collected and spent are properly authorised, documented and accounted for.
The Auditor-General’s concerns point to the need for schools to strictly adhere to government fee guidelines, procurement laws and public financial management requirements to safeguard public resources and protect parents from unauthorised financial demands.
By Kithinji Njeru
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