Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has launched the distribution of bursaries worth Sh110 million to needy secondary and university students in the county.
During the launch held at the county headquarters in Kutus Tuesday, the governor said that about 40,000 students who were identified following a vetting process by the Ward Bursary Committees would benefit from the bursaries.
She said that the bursary fund that would benefit about 32,000 secondary school students and about 8,000 university and tertiary institutions students was aimed at enabling students from poor backgrounds to remain in school after enrollment.
The governor said that the bursary cheques would thereafter be distributed to the beneficiaries in all the 20 wards on diverse dates between January 13th and January 19th.
She stated that her government remains committed to supporting the education of the children in the county, improving academic performance in Kirinyaga and ultimately, the lives of the county youth.
Kirinyaga County Assembly Leader of Majority Kamau Murango applauded the governor for having made the largest bursary disbursement in the history of the county government.
He said the county government is set to achieve many development milestones since the County Assembly and the Executive were now working in harmony.
Other Members of the County Assembly who were present at the event praised the move and said that the bursaries would go a long way in lessening the parents’ burden of school fees at a time many of them were facing Covid-19 related hardships.
On the reopening of schools amidst Covid-19 pandemic, Governor Waiguru urged school management teams in the county to ensure that all the laid down Covid-19 prevention guidelines were complied with to protect the students from contracting the Corona virus.
She also noted that the county government would be distributing about 140,000 masks in Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centers and water tanks to support the setting up of hand washing stations.
The governor added that the county’s Youth Polytechnics have been equipped with resources to ensure the implementation of Covid-19 prevention directives which included setting up of adequate hand washing facilities.
Construction of several additional classrooms to enable the achievement of social distancing in the polytechnics has also been completed, she said.
“The county’s department of health is working closely with all the schools to offer guidance on Covid-19 and monitor the implementation of the set health guidelines. All our schools have been assigned a health worker and a health facility to which any suspected case of Covid-19 should be reported,” said the governor.
She noted that Kirinyaga has so far registered 484 cases with 441 recovering from the disease while the rest are recovering under the home-based care program. Seven people have however died from the disease.
The governor urged all residents to continue observing the laid down corona virus prevention measures, such as wearing masks properly whenever in public, washing hands regularly, and observing physical and social distance.
Governor Waiguru also enumerated many development projects that her government has achieved in the past, including the upcoming five storey medical complex at Kerugoya Hospital which she said would be operational by July this year.
She also said that in order to support farmers add value to their produce and increase marketability and profits, her government would be construct a tomato processing factory, an avocado packaging plant, and support various dairy cooperative societies with value addition equipment.
By Irungu Mwangi
