KISUMU, Kenya Sep 4 – National secondary schools have paid millions of shillings to the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESHA), raising questions in Parliament over the organisation’s legal status and the use of public funds.Luanda MP Dick Maungu, who chairs the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee (PIC) on Education and Governance, said some schools had paid KESHA as much as Sh6 million.Maungu said the committee wants to establish whether KESHA, which serves as a welfare and professional organisation for secondary school principals, is legally entitled to receive funds from public institutions and whether the money it receives is subject to audit by the Auditor-General.“The other issue that has come out very clearly is that most of these schools contribute money to an organisation known as Kenya Secondary School Heads Association,” Maungu said.He cited two schools where the committee found payments of approximately Sh6 million and Sh5 million respectively.“We want to find out that KESHA is a recipient of public money and maybe the activities they are doing are not audited by the Auditor-General,” he said.The remarks were made in Kisumu, where the committee is conducting sittings with principals of national secondary schools in Western Kenya as part of its examination of Auditor-General reports.The inquiry is among the first parliamentary examinations focusing directly on Auditor-General reports concerning secondary schools. The committee has begun with Category One (C1) institutions, mainly national schools, with scrutiny potentially extending to other categories.Principals from several schools, including Maseno School, Bunyore Girls, Chavakali, Nyang’ori, Maranda and Kisumu Girls, have appeared before the committee.Committee to summon KESHA officialsMaungu said the committee plans to summon KESHA officials to explain the legal framework governing the association and account for funds received from public schools.The inquiry will seek to establish how schools approve payments to KESHA, the purpose of the contributions and whether proper accountability mechanisms are in place.The committee’s wider audit has also uncovered disparities in the distribution of textbooks among schools.Maungu said some national schools had received books beyond their requirements while other institutions, particularly those in marginalised areas, continued to experience shortages.“We have seen a school, for example, that received 436 extra books,” he said.The committee intends to question the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) on the distribution of textbooks and whether it maintains accurate and up-to-date enrolment data used to determine schools’ requirements.Schools face millions in fee arrearsThe parliamentary inquiry has also highlighted significant fee arrears owed to schools, with some debts dating back to 2010 and 2015.Maungu said accumulated arrears had placed additional financial pressure on schools already struggling with delayed government funding.He called on the Government to release capitation to schools on time to ease financial challenges facing principals.“The Government should ensure that they support the headteachers by making their work easier, by sending capitation as should be,” he said.The committee is expected to compile a comprehensive report containing recommendations on the financial management of schools, textbook distribution, capitation and payments made to organisations such as KESHA.The findings could trigger closer scrutiny of how public secondary schools spend funds and the financial relationships between schools and external organisations.