Drama erupted at Kakamega Social Hall yesterday when Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) officials stormed a one-day training workshop for primary school heads in Kakamega county alleging that it had been organized illegally.
The teachers received letters signed by Kakamega TSC county director Janet Onyango inviting them to attend the workshop organised by World Link in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards, TSC County Director and Kenya Primary School Heads Association (KEPSHA).
“The TSC county director should be cautioned against using her signature to sign letters for conmen to steal money from teachers then she regrets later that she did not know that these were conmen, she is not even here,” said Patrick Chungani, Chairman KNUT Kakamega South branch.
Chungani said that such workshops were mostly organized when Free Primary Education (FPE) funds were disbursed to schools.
He said that, the money was not even enough for some schools and yet some corrupt officers were using illegal means to embezzle the funds.
“These are public funds and we will be required to account for them, we will therefore not allow such illegal activities to happen,” Chungani said.
Joseph Wesonga, KNUT Secretary Kakamega branch said that he did not know what the organizers intended to do with the money.
He said that, for any program to be run in schools all the stakeholdres should be made aware and the objectives of the same must be clear.
The KNUT officials told reporters that the organisers wanted to defraud teachers as each of them had paid KES 1000 for workshop facilitation.
According to one of the heads Ouko Robert of Emasera Primary in Kakamega central district,the teachers became suspicious after the meeting began without any education official around to preside over it as stated in the letter and this forced them to call their KNUT officials.
The organizers who had collected KES 750,000 from the 750 teachers who had attended the workshop were later forced to refund the money but they only managed to give back KES 750 to each teacher claiming that KES 250 had been deducted for the already booked lunch in a hotel.
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