Musau Ndunda's association barred from school affairs

The High Court has stopped the Kenya National Association of Parents from constituting school boards of management as the Education ministry put in motion plans to recover money collected by the organisation.

The court on Friday dismissed a petition by the association against the ministry.

This came as Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i invited the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to look into the activities of the association whose secretary-general is Mr Musau Ndunda.

The organisation was to get more than Sh65 million from about 25,000 primary and 8,000 secondary schools by supervising formation of their boards. Every institution was to pay Sh2,000.

Several schools parted with the money while those that declined faced court cases.

BASIC EDUCATION ACT

The court ruled that the CS acted within the law in formulating regulations to implement the Basic Education Act.

The judge said the association’s recognition was not anchored in law.

The association went to court seeking orders to stop the ministry from constituting boards of management in schools, saying that was part of its mandate.

Dr Matiang’i has revoked a letter written by the then Education Minister Mutula Kilonzo in 2013, recognising the association.

The CS welcomed the ruling, saying it was a major victory for the ministry “whose activities have been bogged down by more than 20 suits filed by the association”.

He promised to ensure boards of management were established and in every school within two weeks. 

Dr Matiang’i said he regretted that schools had not benefited from the wisdom of the boards as a result of the litigations.

In a February 1 letter to DCI boss Ndegwa Muhoro, Dr Matiang’i said he had received numerous complaints against the association in his brief stint at the ministry.

Dr Matiang’i said the association was collecting money from parents, schools and education officials by coercion.

He added that the association’s officials were harassing and intimidating ministry officials “through real and imagined” suits and that disrupted the running of schools and accountability of resources.

“There is also possible non-compliance with the requirement of the Societies Act, under which the association failed to submit annual returns complete with audited accounts,” Dr Matiang’i said.

He directed Principal Secretary Bellio Kipsang to write to county directors of education for additional evidence against the association to the directorate.