The delays in the release of NGCDF funds is as a result of incompetence, mismanagement and inefficiency at the Treasury, say legislators.
Speaking in a local TV station morning show, Mbeere North MP G.K. Ruku and his Tongeren counterpart John Chikati demanded for the restructuring of Treasury to ensure efficiency in the management of national funds.
While some suggestions have been made that the Cabinet Secretary (CS) in charge of Treasury Prof Njuguna Ndungu should be dismissed for incompetence, the legislators suggested an investigation into the cause of the delays.
The said the delay has grossly affected the implementation of school programmes, particularly the JSS, which is now entering its second year at Grade 8.
“The JSS section of the education depends hugely on NGCDF funds and is in need of huge infrastructural investment to succeed,” said Chikati, demanding that professionalism should guide decisions to ensure prioritization of disbursement as the innocent learners at primary and secondary level suffer for reasons beyond them.
NGCDF and capitation, they insisted, should be given first priority during the release of funds, warning that delays in the recent past had meant that millions of learners in secondary school did not enjoy any meaningful learning.
During the show, it emerged that the bursary money for Form One had been withheld in the NGCDF accounts since the last financial year.
The legislators also called on the government to stop taxing delayed education funds, noting that due to heavy taxes only about Ksh5000 finally reaches a learner instead of the stipulated Ksh22,000.
By Robert Nyagah
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By Robert Nyagah
Student drawn from various schools in Mbeere South and Mbeere North parliamentary zones in Embu County listen to leaders during the release of past bursary funds.
