By Kamau Njoroge
Disbursement of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) will avert a crisis in the education sector in the next academic year, Juja MP George Koimburi has said.
This is after the Treasury agreed to disburse Ksh 2 billion weekly tranches of the fund on Thursday, December 1, 2022 after Attorney General Justin Muturi advised that the Supreme Court Ruling which termed the fund as illegal did not affect the current NG-CDF Act; and okayed disbursement of Ksh 44 billion to be distributed within 23 weeks.
Speaking in Juja on Thursday while handing over a school bus procured by his office to Theta Secondary school, the lawmaker said that majority of parents who had been relying on bursary funds to facilitate their children’s education have been in a quagmire since the Supreme Court Ruling.
However, Koimburi noted that Thursday’s announcement restored a glimmer of hope to most parents across the country, who were at crossroads on how to facilitate their kids’ education come next year.
MPs have been seeking to entrench CDF in the constitution noting that it has been an important grassroots resource.
“The NG-CDF kitty has been playing an integral role in the education journey of majority of students. The contention that has been there over its legality had thrown parents in the country into confusion because most of them have been relying on the funds. However parents and learners can now have a sigh of relief because the kitty is here,” the MP said.
Koimburi claimed that there has been a sharp rise in school dropouts due to lack of school fees ever since disbursement of the kitty was halted in July last year.
“This had raised worries that most kids wouldn’t actualize their dreams if they failed to complete their studies. It’s high time all stakeholders in the education sector and the country at large support reintroduction of the kitty which has been a life-changing resource especially at the grassroots levels,” the MP said
Parents in Juja echoed the Koimburi’s sentiments saying that they have been forced to dig deeper into their pockets for school fees since the fund’s disbursement was stopped.
“Two of my children have completed their secondary school education with the help of bursary funds. It would have been an uphill task to facilitate their education if the kitty wasn’t there,” said Hellen Kahiu, a parent.
Meanwhile, teachers and parents hailed the Juja CDF office for purchasing the school bus saying that it will go down in history that Theta is the first secondary school in Juja to get a school bus since time immemorial.
“We are grateful for this achievement and we hope that it will trigger more development in our schools and motivate students to even perform better both academically and in co-curricular activities,” said Theta secondary school Principal Benson Mwangi.
The MP said that his office will ensure that it purchases school buses for a school in all the five wards including Witeithie, Juja, Theta, Murera and Kalimoni.
