Six Kilolo District Officials Suspended Over Financial Mismanagement in School Construction
Kilolo. The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG), Mr Reuben Kwagilwa, has suspended six officials of the Kilolo District Council over alleged financial mismanagement in the construction of Lugalo Girls’ Secondary School.
Speaking during a visit to Kilolo on December 12, 2025, Mr Kwagilwa said preliminary assessments had uncovered major irregularities in the management of funds and overall implementation of the project, prompting the government to take disciplinary action.
"Reports show that Kilolo District is struggling to implement development projects, especially in education and health. Today I have not inspected health projects, but I have inspected this secondary school," he said.
He directed the PMO–RALG Permanent Secretary to suspend the District Finance Officer and the District Internal Auditor pending investigation, and ordered the formation of a ministerial probe team to audit the project’s finances within 14 days.
Other officials affected by the directive include the District Education Officer (Secondary), the District Academic Officer (Secondary), the District Education Officer (Primary) and the District Academic Officer (Primary).
They have been reassigned to new duties away from the project’s supervision.
Mr Kwagilwa stressed that the government would not tolerate misuse of public funds, particularly in education projects intended to improve learning environments for girls.
He instructed the Kilolo District Council to ensure a comprehensive investigation is conducted and that a full report is submitted within 14 days for further action.
Providing context on funding, he noted that similar girls’ school projects in other regions had been completed using the same allocation of Sh4.7 billion, yet Kilolo continued to face challenges despite receiving additional support.
Earlier, Lugalo Girls’ Secondary School Headmistress, Naja Msokwa, said the school—located in Lugalo Ward, Mbigili Village—has the capacity to accommodate 960 students from Form One to Form Six.
It currently enrols 351 students: 125 in Form One and 226 in Forms Five and Six, specialising in PCM and PCB combinations.
"The primary objective of this project is to expand access to science education for girls," she said.
Construction of the school’s infrastructure has so far cost Sh4.7 billion, of which Sh4.45 billion was provided by the Central Government, and Sh250 million sourced from the council’s own revenues.
Ms Msokwa added that the project had faced several challenges, including rising construction costs and unstable soil conditions that required deeper foundations than those outlined in the original PMO–RALG Bill of Quantities.
The Lugalo Girls’ Secondary School project is among the flagship initiatives of the Sixth-Phase Government, aimed at expanding educational opportunities for girls and addressing long-standing barriers related to distance and access in the Iringa Region.
