Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) John Mbadi now claims he was misquoted over his pronouncement that the government cannot sustain the free education program due to budget constraints.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Education on Thursday, July 24, Mbadi said the financial burden is too heavy for the government.
He said the Treasury can only sustain Ksh16,600 out of the full capitation of Ksh22,000 per secondary school student.
“If you look at the total budget for the year and divide it by the number of total students, you will see that instead of Ksh22,000, we are funding about Ksh16,000. And so, we release 50%, 30%, then 20%. As to whether it is enough, it is not,” Mbadi said.
However, Mbadi now says he was speaking directly to Parliament in an appeal for increased allocation and not to parents.
The CS said he was asking the MPs to consider increasing budget allocations to allow each student to receive the Ksh22,000.
“I was speaking to policy makers, I was speaking to members of Parliament who approve the budget, and I told them we must enhance the budget for capitation so that every child receives 22,000. What we have in the budget today is less than 22,000. If you want me to lie to Kenyans, I am not ready to lie to Kenyans,” he said.
Also Read: Cutting Capitation and Dismissing Free Education is Betrayal of Kenya’s Children
Parents Will Not Pay Fee
However, he affirmed that the government would ensure enough money is allocated to fund free education.
He said parents will not pay school fees, and the government will ensure students are funded.
“The government will make sure that we have enough money to support our children in school. So don’t create panic for parents,” Mbadi said.
“Parents are not supposed to pay fees, and we are not going to allow parents to pay fees. We will make money available to support them. That is what I said.”
Also Read: Govt Speaks on Ruto Scrapping Free Education
Mbadi Asks Parliament to Intervene
Further, Mbadi said the government must allocate a budget to support every child, as required by the policy.
He maintained that the government does not want schools to accumulate debts like universities have been doing.
“We must work with Parliament to make sure that we have enough money to run our schools. It is not, I cannot lie to Kenyans, and I’m not ready to do that.
Mbadi said he was merely highlighting the figures in the 2025/26 budget and added that the allocations cannot adequately support children.
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