Education CS George Magoha has warned unscrupulous education officers and teachers against stealing 653,000 desks and school furniture.
The government desks must all be delivered to specific schools, he said.
Magoha said on Friday some officers and teachers in Migori county are trying to divert some of the desks and sell them.
We will not handle them with kid gloves. If they want to risk stealing from children, let them be sure that their destination is jail.
He said they would face arrest, sacking and prosecution.
Magoha spoke at Langas Primary School in Eldoret where he inspected the desks delivered to the institution.
“I have learnt regrettably some of our unscrupulous officers and teachers are colluding to try and split deliveries so some are taken elsewhere. I want to warn them in broad daylight and publicly that we will not be sympathetic,"
he said.
“We will not handle them with kid gloves. If they want to take the risk of stealing from children, then let them be sure that their destination is jail,” Magoha said.
The Sh.1.9 billion locally assembled school desks project was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta on September 17.
Magoha said no one will be allowed to undermine the project.
He said the jua kali artisans hired have delivered half of the desks and the rest will be completed by the end of next week.
During the visit, he ordered children and teachers out of classrooms to clean the school's dirty compound, saying they must operate in a habitable environment.
Magoha also inspected compliance with Covid-19 control measures at Eldoret Polytechnic.
The CS accused some officers of being asleep on the job and only emerging when he visits.
“If you can’t work and visit schools for over a year, then I don’t need you when I come around,” Magoha said.
He said the officers had failed to ensure that schools comply with Covid-19 control measures. The CS publicly rebuked Uasin Gishu county education officer Gitonga Mbaka, accusing him of laxity.
The officer denied the allegation even as the CS ordered him to leave the function. Mbaka unsuccessfully tried to explain to the CS that he already had a written report on the school but the CS would not hear his explanation.
Magoha said the disease is real and Kenyans must learn to live with it.
“When we say keep social distancing, we mean it because it is now estimated that 10 per cent of the population may be infected and it is not possible to easily know or identify who is infected," he said.
“This behaviour of handshaking or the now popular fist-bump greeting must stop," Magoha said.
He said he would ensure all schools comply with Covid-19 control measures before the end of the year.
(Edited by V. Graham)