By Azael Masese
A head teacher of a school in Baringo Central has denied allegations of misusing funds meant for the construction of classrooms and a dormitory.
Kipsoit Primary School head teacher Francis Chebutuk said an audit was conducted by the Ministry of Education giving them a clean bill of health.
He also denied complaints of sidelining parents saying they (parents) are involved at every stage of the project and other policy issues.
A section of parents had complained to the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Education saying the school cannot account for the more than Sh1 million raised in 2017.
The event was presided over by the then area Governor Benjamin Cheboi.
In the letter signed by 20 parents, they requested for an audit of the money saying the intended project has not been put up.
The letter dated February 27th 2018 is addressed to the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Education, Baringo County Director of Education and the region Teacher Service Commission County Director.
It reads in part: “Parents would like audit to be (sic) concerning monies which were collected during fundraising in aid of the school which total up to Sh1.3 million, up to now, no project has been seen and the fund have been said to be used.”
According to one of the parents Jonathan Kipkorio, the school failed to give a detailed and proper account on the manner the money was spent.
“Whenever we meet, the school administration rushes to provide a breakdown on how the money was spent and failed to give a detailed report and we doubted their accounts,” Kipkorio noted.
Their suspicions were further raised after the Sh400 parents and guardians were charged towards the Ministry of Education Registration Process (NEMIS).
“This was like a rip off as other schools were charging Sh100 and even after they realised the mistake, they opted to give the balance to pupils instead of parents,” he said.
However, Mr Chebutuk said that only Sh1 million was realised from the fundraising and five classrooms have been completed according to the initial plan and a dormitory is under construction.
“We projected the cost to be about Sh2 million but were able to raise about Sh1 million and they were informed through regular meetings on the progress of the project,” he said.
He estimated that the remaining project could cost about Sh800, 000 with some parents suggesting they request funding from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to bridge the deficit.
He defended the use of the money saying parents were involved at every stage of the process and wondered why they are turning their back on him.
“They are privy of the project and are excited and even an audit conducted by the ministry of education indicates that the money was well spent,” he said.
On the NEMIS, Mr Chebutuk admitted to overcharging but said they have refunded the balance.
