Masige East ward Member of County Assembly (MCA) Jacob Bagaka has issued bursary cheques worth Ksh 1.5 million to 363 students at Omosaria Market on Monday.
Even after receiving the bursaries, most parents complained that the money was too little to help their children continue their education and wondered what criteria the bursary committee used to award the bursaries.
The residents accused the MCA of pocketing half of the Ksh 3 million issued through the Kisii County Bursary fund.
They thus appealed to governor Simba Arati to follow up on the money and ensure MCAs are accountable for the funds.
During the meeting, the MCA told parents not to depend on government funds alone to educate their children but instead work hard in other avenues to get school fees for their children.
“The government is there to assist you when you are defeated to take your children to school but the main responsibility of bringing up your children lies upon you,” he said.
Bagaka said that his office had started Jacob Bagaka Education Foundation that will assist children from poor homes to continue with their education.
The MCA, who doubles the Kisii County Assembly Deputy Speaker, also promised to lobby area Members of Parliament to oppose the Finance Bill 2023 when it is tabled in parliament because it is unfriendly to the taxpayer at the current hard economic times.
He proposed 3 per cent deductions from salaries towards the national housing scheme will impoverish teachers because they are already paid meagre salaries.
“If the government wants to deduct money from teachers and other civil servants’ salaries, let them increase their salaries first,” he said.
By Enock Okong’o
Get more stories from our website: Education News
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
