- MPs have grilled former Homa Bay High School principal Vincent Omondi Mayienga over Sh184 million in liabilities and Sh19.07 million in unaccounted-for imprest accumulated during his tenure.
- The committee has directed the school to submit a debt-recovery plan within two weeks, with Maungu confirming that TSC will be engaged to recover outstanding imprest from responsible officers’ salaries.
A former principal of Homa Bay High School has come under intense scrutiny from MPs over the accumulation of KShs. 184 million in liabilities during his tenure, as well as millions of shillings in unaccounted-for imprest.
Vincent Omondi Mayienga, who was transferred to Sirembe Mixed Day Secondary School in Siaya County in May, appeared before the National Assembly Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education, chaired by Luanda MP Dick Maungu, as legislators pressed him on how the national school accumulated such substantial debt while government capitation fell short of what the institution had budgeted for.
Mayienga told the committee that schools are required to budget for Sh22,244 per learner, yet actual government capitation over the past seven years had averaged only about Sh15,000 per learner. He also pointed to poor fee collection, saying the school failed to raise the full Sh40,000 expected per learner, with actual collections averaging roughly 60 per cent of projected revenue. “So definitely, you realise that if the capitation is not done fully, then we are going to have a financial gap,” he said.
Maungu was unmoved by the explanation, invoking the Public Finance Management Act to remind Mayienga that institutions must spend within the resources actually available to them, not projected budgets. “It says you spend what you have, not what you’ve budgeted for,” Maungu said, warning that the accumulated liabilities had left the school “almost technically insolvent.” He further pressed Mayienga on whether his tenure reflected sound governance, asking pointedly whether he considered himself “a good champion of governance.”
Scrutiny deepened around the school’s handling of imprest. The Auditor-General’s report for the year ended June 30, 2025, showed account receivables of Sh71.68 million, including Sh23.06 million in outstanding imprest, of which Sh19.07 million remained unaccounted for by the time of the March 2026 audit. The Auditor-General flagged the failure to surrender the funds as a violation of Regulation 93(5) of the Public Finance Management (National Government) Regulations, 2015, which requires officers to account for or surrender temporary imprest within seven working days of returning to duty. The audit also noted the absence of imprest warrants and a register tracking issued and surrendered funds.
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The problem was not new. Outstanding imprest stood at Sh19.08 million in the 2024 audit, Sh12.36 million in 2023, and Sh7.78 million in 2021, a pattern that drew sharp criticism from MPs. Kiminini MP Kakai Bissau said the committee had a duty to stop the “movement of incompetence from one institution to the other,” questioning how the same issues could persist for nearly a decade. “If it was maybe one year and then the second year… but you cannot do it nine years consecutively,” he said, calling it “sheer incompetence.”
Central MP Moses Kirima dismissed attempts to link the shortfall to rising food prices. “What does a bag of maize have to do with an imprest of Sh23 million? What are you telling us?” he asked, urging the committee to focus squarely on accountability rather than external cost pressures. Mayienga had cited inflation, noting that a bag of maize cost Sh3,600 at the start of a budget cycle could rise to Sh8,000 by year-end, complicating financial planning. Kirima rejected this as unrelated to the imprest question.
Narok Woman Representative Rebecca Tonkei criticised the practice of transferring principals with unresolved financial obligations to new stations, arguing that incoming administrators should not inherit liabilities from their predecessors. She reminded the school’s board of its authority to recommend disciplinary action against staff who fail to account for public funds, noting that the board has powers to advise TSC and interdict teachers directly.
Current principal Joshua Miyawa told the committee that new measures had been introduced to recover outstanding imprest, including a board resolution barring officers with unresolved arrears from undertaking further official assignments. He clarified that Mayienga was not among those with outstanding imprest, having cleared his account before leaving the school. Board chairman Macotieno Silas acknowledged the board’s concern over the “ballooning debts,” saying it was actively working with the administration to address the situation.
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Maungu confirmed the committee would pursue former officers with unresolved imprest through their employers, including engaging TSC to recover funds directly from personal emoluments where necessary. While acknowledging that the school was appearing before the committee for the first time under the current audit cycle and would therefore be given some latitude, he stressed that “leniency does not extend to the issue of recovery of imprests.” He further warned that the financial troubles risked damaging the standing of what he called “a prestigious institution of national significance.”
The committee has directed Homa Bay High School to submit, within two weeks, a full list of outstanding imprest holders, a clear debt-recovery strategy, and measures to strengthen financial controls going forward, as Parliament continues its inquiry into how the liabilities accumulated.
By Antony Ogada
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