Educational corruption in Kenya's Free Primary Education Program

Providing free primary education (FPE) and ending corruption were key election pledges made by former President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya during his inaugural speech on December 30, 2002. Although FPE is being implemented to achieve universal primary education in response to the international initiatives of Education For All and Millennium Development Goals, corruption remains widespread. For instance, in 2009, an audit report revealed that senior Government officials and headteachers had misappropriated FPE funds. Subsequently, donors suspended funding via the Kenyan government in 2010, and currently channel money to multilateral agencies and non-governmental organizations. Lack of political will is perceived as the greatest impediment to fighting corruption in Kenya. This paper reviews the concept of corruption and its implications for funding FPE in Kenya. Secondary literature is used to describe, examine and discuss the scope of corruption. Further, the paper presents factual evidence of mega fraud within the FPE program in Kenya.