By Betty Luke
Isiolo North MP Hassan Odha has slammed the county government over what he termed as failure to issue bursary funds to needy learners straining the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) bursary kitty.
The legislator said funds set aside by his office to support needy learners were insufficient to cover all the needy ones and asked Governor Mohammed Kuti administration to increase the allocations to supplement CDF bursary so that all the needy learners benefit.
Mr Odha said it was unfortunate that neighbouring counties had put in place measures to support education of needy learners while Dr Kuti’s administration had not issued bursaries in the last three years.
“The county government should expand its bursary kitty to benefit as many needy learners as possible,” Mr Odha said.
He said the CDF bursary kitty had been strained by the 100 percent transition policy that has seen huge increase in the number of Form One enrolment in schools.
“Even if we were to distribute the money to Form One students only, it would not benefit everyone because they are too many,” he noted.
On delayed bursaries at his office, Mr Odha said the Treasury had not released funds for the current fiscal year and promised to disburse the bursaries once the funds are processed.
Nearly three months ago, Governor Kuti announced amendments to the County Bursary Act that had been rejected by the Controller of Budget.
The county boss then said the amendments would way for his administration to set aside bursary funds, in a supplementary budget, to support needy learners in the county and ensure they study without struggle.
Marsabit County government has in the last three years been setting aside Sh85 million annually under the Scholarship Fund for needy students in secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
Neighbouring Samburu county has set aside Sh107 million in the current 2021/2022 budget to support needy learners, twice the amount they used to allocate in the past.
Reports indicate that the county government, three months ago, set aside Sh9 million for learners joining Form One.
Mandera county early this year launched Sh110 million to ensure 8, 312 secondary school learners and 5, 401 in universities and colleges continue with learning uninterrupted.
