Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has challenged National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula to substantiate claims that politicians are receiving teachers’ employment letters at State House and selling them to desperate job seekers for hundreds of thousands of shillings.
Ogamba, speaking during a local media interview at Kisii University on Wednesday night, distanced the Ministry of Education and State House from the alleged recruitment scheme, insisting that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is an independent constitutional commission with the exclusive mandate to recruit, employ and promote teachers.
The CS, however, said he could not explain allegations involving employment letters that Wetang’ula claimed were being issued at State House because he was not present when the alleged transactions took place.
“The claims that people receive hiring letters from State House cannot be addressed by anyone who is not the Speaker or a member of TSC, because we don’t know where those claims came from,” Ogamba said.
He challenged Wetang’ula to provide details of the alleged scheme, including how the letters were obtained and distributed.
“No one can respond to claims made by an individual with whom they were not present when the alleged collection or issuance of the letters took place,” he said.
Wetang’ula triggered a political storm in August after alleging that TSC employment or recommendation letters were being issued at State House and handed to Members of Parliament, who allegedly sold them to job seekers for as much as Sh400,000.
The Speaker condemned the alleged practice as immoral, saying it would lock thousands of qualified Kenyans out of public employment because they could not afford to pay hundreds of thousands of shillings for jobs.
The claims have heightened scrutiny of the recruitment of teachers, a sector where thousands of qualified graduates compete for a limited number of vacancies and where allegations of political influence in public recruitment have periodically surfaced.
TSC subsequently dismissed the claims as false and misleading, maintaining that Article 237 of the Constitution gives the commission the sole mandate to recruit, employ and issue appointment letters to teachers.
Ogamba reiterated the commission’s position, stressing that neither State House nor the Ministry of Education has the legal authority to recruit or promote teachers.
“TSC is an independent commission. Their work is to interview and promote teachers. I cannot address an issue the Speaker was speaking about unless we look for him and ask him to clarify the claims that he received letters for teachers’ hiring,” he said.
“Not even the CS for Education has the capacity to either hire or promote teachers… it is the sole mandate of TSC.”
Ogamba was speaking in Kisii during a two-day Education Stakeholders’ Convention at Kisii University, where he also addressed concerns over school financing, uniforms and technical training.
On capitation, the CS said government funding had been processed ahead of the opening of the final school term, dismissing concerns that schools were being denied funds.
“Day schools do not receive capitation,” Ogamba said, adding that capitation is sent only to boarding schools.
The remarks are likely to trigger further debate among education stakeholders over the financing of day schools and whether existing government support is sufficient to meet their operational needs.
Ogamba also acknowledged concerns over the rising cost of school uniforms, saying the ministry was engaging suppliers to address what he described as exploitative pricing.
He recalled that when learners transitioned from Grade Nine to Grade 10 under the new education system, President William Ruto directed schools to allow students to report without the prescribed uniforms as the government addressed the issue.
The CS further pledged continued government support for Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions, saying the ministry would provide funding and other necessary support to tertiary training centres across the country.
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