The National Assembly has finalized plans to seek court intervention in the protracted refusal by the government to release NGCDF funds, part of which goes to bursaries for poor students in secondary school.
Rarieda MP Dr Otiende Amollo disclosed that over two thirds of the legislators have appended their signatures in support of the petition seeking to compel the government to release all the monies owed to NGCDF.
The MP, who disclosed that he will lead the legal team on behalf of Parliament, regretted that the country risked losing the numerous gains in development if it is not protected from the current government, which he claims is hell-bent on ensuring its collapse.
“We are moving to court to petition the government over the NGCDF fate. The Treasury owes billions of shillings in arrears to the constituencies. In fact in Rarieda for instance, we have not received over 107 million in this financial year,” the MP said.
The Treasury only released Ksh10 billion to constituencies for bursaries recently while promising to give the balance in due time.
The 290 constituencies in Kenya are each allocated Ksh137 million every financial year. In the current year, Ksh53.5 billion was allocated to the NGCDF.
The NGCDF Board is allocated Ksh2.7 billion, therefore constituencies’ shareable allocation is Ksh50.9 billion.
In the latest schedule, seven constituencies should receive the highest allocation of Ksh201.7 million while the lowest ought to get Ksh157.8 million.
Otiende was confident of the outcome of the legal proceedings, noting that the fund is constitutional and that the courts will give a solution once and for all to resolve the long-standing issue that has made Kenyans to suffer, especially in education.
He also supported the roll-out of different bursary/ education support schemes from various state actors, stating that the burden of financing education in Kenya needs concerted efforts.
“Apart from the NGCDF, there should be as many bursaries as possible. Some people are saying it should be centralized to avoid duplications, but it is ok to have as many bursaries as possible. Let MCAs, governors, (and) woman representatives support children in schools because most parents are unable to (pay fees),” he said.
He made the remarks when he presided over the release of over 15 million shillings in bursaries to over 3,000 students in all the 48 secondary schools in the constituency and for students studying outside the region.
By Erick Nyayiera
Get more stories from our website: Education News
To write to us or offer feedback, you can reach us at: editor@educationnews.co.ke
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
