Uasin Gishu members of county assembly (MCAs) have asked the Ethics and anti-corruption commission (EACC) to investigate alleged misuse and irregular disbursement of Sh75million bursary funds in the county.
The MCAs adopted a report by the public accounts committee recommending EACC to look into the irregularities of the bursary kitty that is run by the county government under Governor Jackson Mandago.
The committee chaired by leader of minority Ramadhan Ali also called for the disciplining of officers involved in the irregularities queried by the Auditor General, especially funds allocated in the FY 2017-2018.
While discussing the motion moved by nominated MCA Leah Malot on behalf of the chairman, the MCA’s said they realized that bursaries in their wards were not allocated as per the law and the accounting officers failed to give them proper reports on how the funds were used.
The MCA’s claimed there had been double allocation of the money where many students who benefited from the county bursary kitty also received money from the NGCDF kitty for the same purpose while many other needy cases were left out.
While seconding the motion Ngenyilel ward MCA David Singoei observed that many people were scared at the mention of EACC, “it was one of the bodies mandated to ensure good use of public finds and resources, hence no need to be scared of them”, said the MCA.
“The EACC will look into the matter and where they find faults then action will be taken against those involved but they will also help the county government to strengthen its systems for prudent use of such public resources,” said Singoei.
Deputy speaker Hosea Korir while presiding over the plenary asked the committee to also recommend adoption of modern technology in allocating the bursary kitty to weed out double allocation.
By Kiptanui Cherono
