Over 7,000 students from Kiambu Constituency have received a total of Sh31 million in bursary, thanks to efforts by Kiambu Member of Parliament Machua Waithaka.
The disbursement, which started on Saturday May 6th and is still ongoing, has brought a much-needed relief to parents and students as schools reopen this week for the second term.
Beneficiaries gathered at the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) offices in Kiambu Town to collect their cheques and the funds were disbursed according to the level of need, ranging from Sh3, 000 to Sh8, 000.
According to the Constituency Manager, Aloysius Njoroge, measures were put in place to ensure ease and transparency during the bursary application process.
“The “Machua One Stop Shop” was introduced to facilitate the process, bringing all stakeholders together in one area,” Njoroge said and emphasized the importance of involving community leaders such as Chiefs, Priests, and Pastors in identifying eligible beneficiaries, which made the process faster and easier.
“We had an elaborate system of identifying needy cases and that’s why we went to the location level so that the Chief, Priest and Pastors are there to help us and the people themselves were protagonists in the whole process in that they would help identify the residents that come from the area which made the whole process easier and quicker,” said Njoroge.
The bursary beneficiaries included students from primary schools, high schools, tertiary institutions, colleges, and universities. Students were categorized according to different levels of need, including orphans (partial orphans and complete orphans), poor students, persons with disabilities, and persons living with HIV&AIDS.
“We had four categories, those ones who are poor where they have both parents but cannot afford, we were giving them Sh3,000 and those in boarding Sh5,000 and universities we would give them Sh8,000 but we had now different categories depending on the needs. We had the orphans, there are those we call partial orphans where either one parent is alive and we would increase the amount to Sh4, 000. Then we had the complete orphans who got a higher kitty ranging all the way to the university, some would get Sh 5,000 or even Sh7,000. Then we had persons living with disabilities and those living with HIV$AIDS so we would give them a different application form from the others,” Njoroge added.
Julius Shirove, a parent to one of the beneficiaries, expressed his satisfaction with the allocation and disbursement process, saying that there was no discrimination and that anybody residing in Kiambu Constituency was eligible for the bursary application as long as they met the criteria.
“We were applying for the bursary in one area where all the officials were in place which made it easy for us and the application process fast. So, once you have applied, they would review the forms and send us a message. They have issued the bursaries to a lot of schools, even if the school is in Mombasa or Kisumu, they have no discrimination at all,” said Mr. Julius Shirove.
The bursary disbursement has been a huge success, with many students benefitting from the funds allocated by the Kiambu Member of Parliament. The measures put in place to ensure transparency and fairness during the application process have been lauded, and the funds have brought much-needed relief to parents and students as schools prepare to reopen.
By Emmanuel Mulei and Kemboi Kiptoo
