NAIROBI, Kenya — September 17, 2026. Kenya's National Assembly has summoned senior education officials to explain why some national schools received thousands of textbooks beyond their reported requirements while other schools face shortages. The inquiry follows audit findings showing that Kagumo High School accumulated 6,668 excess books between 2021 and 2025.
Why has Kenya's Parliament summoned education officials? MPs want Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa and KICD chief executive Prof Charles Ong'ondo to explain repeated excess textbook deliveries to some national schools. Audit records cited by Parliament show Kagumo High accumulated 6,668 surplus books across several financial years.
Parliament questions how thousands of books became surplus
The National Assembly's Public Investments Committee on Education and Governance is seeking explanations from Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa and Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development chief executive Prof Charles Ong'ondo.
Daily Nation reported that the committee raised concerns after principals from national schools described receiving books beyond the number needed by their students.
Kagumo High School was cited as a major example. Audit figures presented to the committee showed 6,668 excess textbooks accumulated from 2021 through 2025.
The newspaper estimated the value of those books at about Sh7.29 million using an average current price for a Grade 10 Geography textbook. That figure is an estimate based on the cited average price, rather than an Auditor-General finding that exactly Sh7.29 million was irretrievably lost.
Audit records show repeated over-supply
The audit trail indicates that the problem was not confined to one year.
For the 2021 financial year, the Auditor-General's records cited by Nation showed that KICD distributed 7,271 textbooks to Kagumo High while 4,943 were issued to students, leaving 2,328 books in excess.
EDUCATION
Kenya MPs Summon Education Chiefs Over Millions in Excess Textbooks
Sep 17, 2026
Sep 17, 2026
4 min read
Published
Updated:
NAIROBI, Kenya — September 17, 2026. Kenya's National Assembly has summoned senior education officials to explain why some national schools received thousands of textbooks beyond their reported requirements while other schools face shortages. The inquiry follows audit findings showing that Kagumo High School accumulated 6,668 excess books between 2021 and 2025.
Why has Kenya's Parliament summoned education officials? MPs want Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa and KICD chief executive Prof Charles Ong'ondo to explain repeated excess textbook deliveries to some national schools. Audit records cited by Parliament show Kagumo High accumulated 6,668 surplus books across several financial years.
Parliament questions how thousands of books became surplus
The National Assembly's Public Investments Committee on Education and Governance is seeking explanations from Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa and Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development chief executive Prof Charles Ong'ondo.
Daily Nation reported that the committee raised concerns after principals from national schools described receiving books beyond the number needed by their students.
Kagumo High School was cited as a major example. Audit figures presented to the committee showed 6,668 excess textbooks accumulated from 2021 through 2025.
The newspaper estimated the value of those books at about Sh7.29 million using an average current price for a Grade 10 Geography textbook. That figure is an estimate based on the cited average price, rather than an Auditor-General finding that exactly Sh7.29 million was irretrievably lost.
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Audit records show repeated over-supply
The audit trail indicates that the problem was not confined to one year.
For the 2021 financial year, the Auditor-General's records cited by Nation showed that KICD distributed 7,271 textbooks to Kagumo High while 4,943 were issued to students, leaving 2,328 books in excess.
In 2022, the school received 560 set books while 122 were issued, producing an excess of 438. In 2023, 1,686 set books were supplied against 808 required, leaving 878 surplus books.
For the year ending June 2024, the school received 1,498 set books while 1,094 were issued, leaving 404. In 2025, 7,767 textbooks were delivered and 5,551 issued to students, leaving 2,216 in the store.Together, those annual figures produce the 6,668-book total cited by the committee.
Principals say schools are told to accept deliveries
Kagumo High principal Silas Mwirigi told MPs that schools are asked to sign for government textbooks even when deliveries exceed their needs, according to Nation.
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He gave an example in which a school requisitioned 300 Geography books but received 500. His evidence raises questions about how enrolment, subject choices and school requisitions are incorporated into distribution decisions.
MPs also cited Baricho High School, where the Auditor-General found excess set books in the 2024/25 financial year.
Committee chair Dick Maungu said the issue required answers from senior ministry and KICD officials rather than individual principals alone. He also raised the need for a system to move unused books from schools with surpluses to institutions where learners lack materials.
Kenya's government buys and distributes textbooks as part of its public education programme. Accurate allocation matters because every unused book ties up public funds while another school may still face a shortage.
The committee's questions also concern data. Kenya maintains education-management information intended to track schools and learners, so MPs want to know why reported enrolment and subject demand have not prevented repeated excess deliveries.
The audit language is important. The Auditor-General said value for money on excess books could not be confirmed. That does not automatically mean every surplus book was stolen or permanently wasted; books remaining in usable condition can potentially be redistributed. The issue is whether public resources were allocated efficiently and whether controls matched actual school needs.
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Officials now expected before committee
The summons gives senior education officials an opportunity to explain how textbook quantities are calculated, who authorises deliveries and what happens when a school reports an oversupply.
MPs are also likely to examine whether KICD and the Ministry have effective “reverse logistics” for collecting and reallocating unused books.
A functioning redistribution mechanism could reduce future purchases in schools already holding surplus stock while directing books to institutions with shortages.
The next key development will be the officials' appearance before the committee and any corrective measures they propose. Their evidence will help establish whether the repeated surpluses resulted from outdated enrolment data, procurement rules, distribution errors or another weakness in the system.
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