The National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) has released bursaries worth Sh55 million for education of needy students in Saku constituency.
And to enhance accountability, area MP Colonel (Rtd) Dido Raso has directed that every parent or guardian should collect the cheque for their children and ensure surrender of receipts issued by the respective schools to the local NG-CDF office.
Presiding over the issuance of the grants at the ACK St Peter’s Mixed Secondary School in Sagante Location, Raso said the Kenya Kwanza government has strengthened the management of the fund in order to make it more effective under the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) by ensuring that the most vulnerable in society do not lack education.
“The monies are meant to cater for the tuition of students from poor backgrounds who are in secondary schools, colleges and universities,” said the MP adding that education was important in empowering the youth.
The legislator underlined the key role played by the fund in accelerating development across Kenya where not only tuition fees have been paid for deserving needy cases but also improvement and expansion of the infrastructure in schools, government offices, roads and provision of water.
He chided those calling for the abolition of NG-CDF and asked certain senators who were pushing for its removal to reconsider their stand on the matter.
Raso pointed out that 80 percent of the local student population consisted of the vulnerable given that lengthy drought periods occasioned by climate change has disrupted livestock rearing which is the economic mainstay of the local pastoralist communities.
He particularly opposed the funds being chanelled to the counties which he accused of doing very little with billions of shillings disbursed to the units by the National Treasury and urged for proper use of public funds at all levels.
The MP, while calling on wananchi to back the entrenchment of the fund into the Constitution, warned that development would be derailed in the country if the fund were scrapped.
To this effect, Raso asked the Saku NG-CDF management to ensure that the beneficiaries collect receipts from their respective learning institutions upon payment as supporting documents on the prudent use of the money.
According to the legislator, President Ruto’s administration was keen on making quality education accessible to disadvantaged learners in order to enable them achieve their full potential as those from endowed backgrounds.
“That is why the government ensured that the funds are available despite the hard economic times being experienced not only here in Kenya but globally,” he said
On peace, Raso who is also the vice-chairperson of the National Assembly Administration and Security Committee asked Marsabit county residents to jealously protect the restored peace by living in harmony.
He cautioned that politically instigated ethnic conflicts and fights had robbed the county an opportunity to grow for a long time and appealed to government security agencies to firmly deal with inciters of violence and warmongers.
Many residents, parents and leaders who attended the function hailed the creation of the fund which they said had enabled many children who could not afford tuition fees to attain education.
Marsabit Central Sub-County Director of Education Safina Adi cited the establishment of ACK St Peter’s Mixed Secondary School which was started from scratch with funding from NG-CDF as a testimony to the growth the fund has impacted on the education sector.
The parents noted that the disbursement of the bursaries was timely saying it would enable their children to continue with their learning uninterrupted.
By Sebastian Miriti and Hassan Kuchu
