Addressing a news conference at Jogoo House, Dr Wekesa said more than half of the money or Sh2.6 billion will be used by the 18,000-plus schools to purchase instructional materials, including textbooks and writing materials.
The rest will be used for general purposes, including paying support staff like watchmen.
Under the programme, each pupil is allocated Sh1,020 per year.
Yesterday's disbursement brings to Sh31.5 billion the total amount of funds so far spent on the free schooling programme.
Introduced in January 2003, the programme has fetched an extra two million pupils in schools, raising the total enrolment to 7.6 million.
Overall, pupil enrolment in public primary schools has gone up by 28 per cent since fees were abolished three years ago.
Circulars have already been sent to schools through district education officers, giving instructions on how the funds will be spent.
"They (circulars) emphasise accountability and give a breakdown on specific items to be financed," Dr Wekesa said.
Schools that fail to receive the funds should immediately contact to the ministry's headquarters.
"Head teachers are reminded to ensure full utilisation of these funds as per the guidelines and to bear in mind that our audit team will ensure accountability," he added.
Dr Wekesa warned that disciplinary action will be taken against teachers and school committees that misuse the funds.
Currently, 90 per cent of the funding for the programme comes from domestic sources while the balance comes from development partners.
According to Government statistics, 13 more pupils in every 100 are now completing primary school education thanks to the free education programme.
The completion rates had shot up by 13.4 per cent between 2002 and 2004.
By 2004, the primary (school) completion rates stood at 76.2 per cent compared to 62.8 per cent in 2002.
Currently, there were approximately nine million textbooks for the five core subjects in primary schools by the end of 2004.
Yesterday, Education permanent secretary Karega Mutahi said candidates from public schools were now doing well in examinations.
Although there was a shortage of teachers, good performance from the schools indicated that the programme had not compromised standards.
Prof Mutahi also said the ministry had taken measures to combat double registration of candidates in Standard Eight examinations.
Reduction in the cases of double registration, he said, had led to a slight drop in the number of candidates enrolled in this year's examinations.
Source: All Africa
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