- Kessha has disputed Auditor-General findings questioning millions of shillings transferred by public schools to the association.
- Kessha National Chairperson Willy Kuria has argued that the association should not be classified as a welfare organisation.
- Kessha has attributed larger transfer figures in some audit reports to differences in school enrolment sizes rather than subscription payments.
The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) has rejected an Auditor-General’s report questioning millions of shillings transferred by public schools to the association, arguing that the funds were not necessarily membership subscriptions.
KESSHA said some of the money flagged in the audit report had instead been collected and pooled to finance educational and co-curricular activities, including music festivals, drama, science and engineering fairs, sporting activities and student conferences.
The Auditor-General had raised concerns over the use of public funds to pay what was classified as Kessha subscription fees, terming the expenditure irregular. In response, the association argued that such transactions should be assessed based on the purpose for which the money was raised rather than automatically treated as payments to Kessha. “These funds should not automatically be construed as Kessha membership subscriptions or as money transferred for the benefit of Kessha as an institution,” the Auditor-General said.
ALSO READ:
Education stakeholders defend KESSHA over Auditor General’s query on school payments
Kessha National Chairperson Willy Kuria said the association should not be treated as a welfare organisation, since its core mandate is to advance the professional and educational interests of school heads rather than provide personal or social benefits.
“It is, therefore, important to distinguish us from a welfare association whose principal purpose would ordinarily be the provision of social or personal benefits to its members. While Kessha naturally has a responsibility to advocate the welfare and professional interests of school heads,” Kuria said.
He said schools sometimes collect contributions for specific activities and use the money at the level where it was raised to directly benefit learners, citing music festivals, drama competitions, science and engineering fairs, sporting activities and student conferences as examples of programmes that may require pooled resources.
“In many instances, such resources are pooled for a specific educational activity and are utilised at the level at which they are collected to support the Kenyan learner. They are, therefore, not necessarily remitted to or retained in the national Kessha accounts,” he said.
Auditor-General flags irregular payments by public secondary schools to KESSHA
School size cited as factor behind large figures
Kessha further argued that the size of a school could influence the amounts appearing in audit reports, since contributions are typically calculated based on the number of learners enrolled. Kuria said schools with large enrolments could therefore appear to have transferred significant sums, even where the funds were intended for specific educational activities rather than the association itself.
The association maintained that this distinction should be factored in when interpreting the financial transactions recorded in individual school audit reports.
By Jonathan Mwinzi
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
>>> Click here to read more informed opinions on the country’s education landscape
>> Click here to stay ahead with the latest national news.
