MPs slammed Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu yesterday over recent appointments in his ministry, which they claimed were tribal.
The lawmakers who sit on the Public Investments Committee (PIC) on governance and education, chaired by Bumula MP Wamboka Wanami, claimed Machogu has only appointed his kinsmen when opportunities arose, and thus directed Auditor General Nancy Gathungu to conduct a special audit of the ministry's establishment.
The debate began after MPs read out a gazette notice issued by the CS detailing the appointments of key personnel in various universities, claiming that eight of the ten people appointed were from his tribe.
According to the notice, the CS appointed Angelia Obaga, Peter Gathirwa, and Tabitha Nyandie to the Kabianga University Council.
Fancy Kemei and John Ondari have been appointed council members at South Eastern Kenya University, while Ben Momanyi has been appointed to the Kirinyaga University Council.
Angelica Obaga has been appointed to the council of Multimedia University, while Lawrence Okelo and Vincent Moseti have been appointed to the commission of Universities (CUE).
However, Machogu defended himself, refuting claims and actually requesting that the committee review all appointments rather than just one gazette notice.
He stated, "I did not appoint 80 percent of my community members." I did not appoint my cronies at Kaimosi University, as is alleged."
Machogu used his submissions to the committee to clarify that in the last year, they have appointed vice chancellors to 14 universities.
The universities include Alupe, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Machakos University, Technical University of Kenya, Tharaka University, Pwani University, Karatina University, Kisii University, South Eastern Kenya University, and the University of Eldoret. Others include Jaramogi University of Science and Technology, Kabianga University, Tom Mboya University, and Maasai Mara University.
At the same time, the committee announced that it will invite the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate individuals in the Ministry of Education who colluded with private universities to inflate capacity numbers and send double allocations to the universities.
The move comes after Machogu admitted that they were unable to account for approximately Sh 24 million sent to private universities as capitation.