Kenya: Teacher Service Commission supports principal accused of corruption

Beatrice Wbabu said, "upon conclusion, we established that the claims are baseless but instigated by the deputy principal and a few board members. To us this is a matter of bad blood and not gross misconduct as claimed".

The Teacher Service Commission in Kenya supported the principal of Lavington Girls Secondary School who was accused of corruption and misconduct, according to a report by The Star. The employer reportedly said that interdicting a teacher over blind claims is not justified unless instructed by the Ministry.

After receiving a copy of the accusations from the panel, Beatrice Wbabu, the Head of Communication probed the matter and conducted an official investigation. Beatrice said, "upon conclusion, we established that the claims are baseless but instigated by the deputy principal and a few board members. To us this is a matter of bad blood and not gross misconduct as claimed".

The matter came to light after the school board filed a petition to interdict the teacher over claims of nepotism, corruption, and abuse of office. According to reports Judith Ombima, the principal is accused of employing her sister as cateress and Matron in the school. She is also accused of paying her relatives comparatively more than the old experienced staff.

Accused of corruption, Ombima is also blamed to employ a bursar who doubles the school's store charges and lacks virtue and responsibility as being the accountant of the premises. She is also blamed for using school funds for personal gains and using school grounds for functions and monetizing money in a personal account, as the board documented, “for the months of April 2020 - August 2020 alone she has received Sh75,000 directly from parents hiring grounds for weddings”.

Despite accusations made by the board, Beatrice said, "TSC cannot just interdict a teacher without a formal report from the ministry of education. We followed the matter keenly and from the audited reports, there was no evidence to demonstrate that funds had been misappropriated".