Nyeri Town MP Duncan Mathenge Maina has blamed the Treasury for the delay in releasing at least Sh 63 billion meant for the National Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).
Mathenge argues that the Treasury has failed in its mandate of allocating money according to priorities and is in the process of hurting key government functions such as education and health which form the crux of the Kenya Kwanza government.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the flagging-off ceremony for beneficiaries of the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation Elimu scholarship, the lawmaker said it was a pity that the majority of learners who depend on the NG-CDF bursaries will be forced to wait longer until such a time when the money is released.
“We have a very big problem with the Treasury and the way it is treating the National Government Constituency Development Fund. This money is meant for development in the constituency and education is part of that. I have schools that need laboratories that the Constituency NG-CDF board has identified. Half of the financial year is gone and a lost opportunity will never be recovered.
We have children who have performed well and are admitted to schools but their parents and guardians have no way of supporting their education. We have no way of supporting those children to report back to schools because we cannot support them with bursaries,” he told the press.
He is now calling upon the National Treasury to expedite the process of releasing the funds to the 290 constituencies and also urged for the need to observe timelessness when it comes to addressing crucial government issues such as education, health, and food security.
Already, a section of lawmakers has threatened to summon Treasury CS Professor Njuguna Ndung’u before the House unless the money is released within seven days.
Mathenge has also called for additional funds to help cater to the education needs of the less fortunate in a society whose number he said is on an upward trajectory.
He noted that out of the 871 applicants who had applied for the Elimu bursaries, only 111 were picked in the entire county due to limited funding.
He has therefore called for more stakeholders to come on board to boost the initiative and ensure more children especially those from most deserving families can access education just like their peers from well-up families.
“It is a clear demonstration of the kind of hardships that households and families have been going through because they do not have the means of paying for secondary school education for their children. And despite the amount that is being provided by the government for capitation that amount is not sufficient. And I think it is time this country wholeheartedly come together and tackle the issue of education for the Kenyan child so that no child should be advantaged more than the other in terms of education,” he pointed out.
On his part, Joseph Kituzi, who is the Jomo Kenyatta Elimu Fund County coordinator said the scholarship aims to ensure children from vulnerable and poor backgrounds can go through their Secondary school learning without interruption.
He said this year alone, the Fund will cater for the education of 12,000 learners from form one to form four in all 47 counties.
Out of this number, 9,000 of the beneficiaries are those who will be joining Form One next week.
“There was a slot for 111(beneficiaries) for Nyeri County but applications were well over 1,000 and I believe there are still needy cases out there who with a little more resources we could be in a position to help.
Last year we had a pioneer program where the government sponsored 3,000 students in the whole country. This year we have a total of 9,000 students under the Elimu program. This program covers tuition fees, pocket money for the learners, and transport to and from school and also covers monitoring and evaluation,” he said.
“Our idea is that every child who joins Form one must go through the four years successfully to be able to get good grades that can take him to the university and that is what we are now focused on,” he explained.
Others who attended the ceremony included Nyeri town Assistant County Commissioner 1 Sammy Nyaga and County Director of Education Jane Njogu among others.
By Samuel Maina
