From internal wrangles to unsigned tenders: Inside Bitok's Sh7b grade 11 textbook storm

Basic Education PS Prof Julius Bitok before the National Assembly Committee on Education at Continental House, Parliament, Nairobi, February 24, 2026. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

A textbook scandal is unfolding at the Ministry of Education, threatening to deny Grade 11 pupils critical learning material when schools open in January next year, as top Ministry of Education officials fight over a Sh7 billion supply tender.

The Standard has established that a month after the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) completed the procurement process of the issuance of award or regret letters, has been stopped by Basic Education PS Julius Bitok.

Bitok is at the centre of the stalling of the issuance of tender award letters to publishers who had already been competitively selected.

It emerged that the PS is pushing for the cancellation of the grade 11 textbooks procurement process and revocation of the KICD mandate to purchase and distribute textbooks to schools.

Sources reveal that senior ministry officials are pushing for favour on two publishers: one government-owned and another private publisher, to be granted more textbooks away from the procurement process.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba during a previous launch of textbook distribution. [File, Standard]

Speaking to the Standard yesterday, Bitok exonerated himself, saying there are plans to restructure the process, but that will not affect the distribution.

Bitok said there is adequate time for procurement before the January transition.

“There is a lot of time between now and January for procurement to be conducted. KICD has previously distributed books later than stipulated timelines,” said Bitok.

A letter dated March 31, written by KICD Chief Executive Charles Ong’ondo, which the Standard acquired, reveals the hurdles erected by PS in the procurement process.

The letter warns of the potential delays in the distribution of the Grade 11 textbooks to schools after the procurement process came to a halt.

The letter indicates that Bitok issued verbal instructions in a meeting held at the PS’s office on March 24 to stop the release of award letters to publishers who won the tender after completion of the procurement exercise.

“You called me on the phone on March 10, 2026 and asked that I meet you on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, to discuss the matter of procurement of the said Grade 11 textbooks. However, during the call, you instructed me not to issue letters of award or regrets to the bidders,” the letter reads.

The correspondence between the Ministry of Education and KICD reveals a deeper power struggle over control of the textbook procurement system itself.

The letter shows that the PS had signalled intentions to fundamentally alter the procurement framework by revoking KICD’s mandate to purchase and distribute textbooks to primary and secondary schools.

The letter further reveals that in a subsequent physical meeting, the PS verbally disclosed a plan to strip KICD of its mandate to tender and distribute books, transferring the role to his office — the State Department of Basic Education.

“During our meeting on March 24, 2026, in your office, after our discussion, you indicated that you were considering revoking the delegation of the procurement of approved course books for Basic Education that was granted to KICD… to have it done at the Ministry of Education,” the letter reads.

KICD has held that role for close to a decade, since 2017, when the Ministry centralised textbook purchasing.

Before the 2017 directive, schools directly procured textbooks using capitation funds disbursed by the government, a system that was scrapped to enhance efficiency and oversight through centralised purchasing.

Bitok denied plans for the switch but noted that the agency would be moved to the Schools Equipment Production unit (SEPU), in the long term, citing recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms report.

However, the letter by Prof Ong'ondo warned that the decision to cancel procurement of grade 11 at this point could expose him—as the accounting officer—and the Institute and ministry to legal liability.

Prof Ong’ondo warned that revoking KICD’s mandate at the final stage of a completed process would not only disrupt the procurement but could invalidate it altogether, leading to potential delays in the distribution of the textbooks and also exposing the institute to litigation.

“I am legally bound by Section 44 of the PPADA Act to ensure that all procurement processes of the Institute are compliant… Further continued delay in issuance of the letters of award and regret may impose liability on the Ministry, the Institute and me as the Accounting Officer,” the letter reads.

According to KICD’s submission and evaluation schedule, publishers were required to submit their proposals by November 25, 2025, with evaluation results expected by December 20 last year.

Any appeals were to be concluded by early January 2026, paving the way for submission of corrected copies by February 6, 2026.

The schedule further indicates that printing and publication of approved materials were planned to run between February 20 and April 30, 2026, with distribution to schools set for May through July 2026.

Ministry of Education officials, who spoke to the Standard, said the textbook procurement process cannot be changed at this stage, saying the process is legally structured in two intertwined phases, with KICD mandated under law to handle the technical evaluation, making that component untouchable.

The source added that once results are released, the process is effectively final, as publishers already know their technical and financial scores and who has won each title.

It also emerged that procurement law requires awards to be issued within 30 days and only allows cancellation under strong, justified grounds, which have not been raised.

Publishers who spoke to The Standard said that starting the procurement process would derail timelines, as a fresh tender would take at least a month for advertisement and evaluation alone, making it impossible to meet planned textbook distribution deadlines.

“All publishers know who has won which book. The procurement law has timelines, which are very strict. The day you release the results, 30 days from there, you must give awards. And you cannot cancel a tender unless you have very strong reasons. The law says you must have strong reasons for material governance. And this can only be mentioned by the people who took part in the bid,” one of the publishers said.

Letters of correspondence by KICD seen by The Standard reveal the inside fight over control of the procurement process as the office of the PS delays issuing a list of schools to facilitate the award of the tender.

Bitok said that the distribution list, required to show how many books individual schools will get, has been withheld as the Ministry of Education sorts out discrepancies between the number of students in school and the textbook requirement.

Bitok said the Ministry of Education had also noted a variance in the distribution of Grade 10 textbooks.

“We are in the process of rationalising the distribution of books in grade 10 because there was a variance. For example, a school with 500 students you find that it received 300 textbooks and another with 300 students received 600 textbooks,” he said.

The revelations come as PS Bitok faces mounting scrutiny from lawmakers over his conduct and management of the education sector.

The PS has twice been put on the spot in the recent past, with the National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa terming him “the most clueless PS in the Ministry of Education,” while MPs also raised concerns over absenteeism and failure to respond to critical issues, warning of possible sanctions.

Multiple sources at the ministry and some MPs in the Education Committee revealed to The Standard that senior government officials at the ministry are eyeing a stake in the lucrative textbook supply chain in the procurement of the Grade 11 textbooks.

The matter has now drawn the ire of members of the National Education Committee, who now want Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba to unlock the impasse.

Publishers have also weighed in, warning that cancellation of the grade 11 tender process would expose the institute to litigation, noting that out of 31 publishers that submitted their bids, 27 were successful.

But in an earlier letter dated March 9, Prof. Ong’ondo stated that per the timelines, the publishers should be contracted by the end of March 2026 to enable them to start the correction process and have adequate time for printing of the textbooks.

However, this is only possible once the PS has provided a distribution list that shows the number of textbooks each school requires.

But PS Bitok has not provided the distribution list, effectively bringing the entire process to a standstill.

“To facilitate the subsequent stages of procurement… the Institute requires the official distribution list detailing all public secondary schools and their expected Grade 11 enrolment figures in 2027,” the March 9 letter reads.

The standoff adds to a growing pattern of concern over the PS’s conduct in office, which has recently drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers.

A separate letter by the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) to Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba warned that continued delays could cripple the entire textbook supply chain.

In the March 24 letter, the association raised alarm over delays in issuing formal award letters, terming them critical to unlocking the next phase of the process.

The publishers warn that without these letters, the entire production chain is effectively paralysed.

“It enables publishers to secure funding from their respective banking institutions, so that they can mobilise printers, distributors and other key players in the process,” the letter explains.

Further, the association notes that the delay is already affecting logistical planning at scale.