Tharaka Nithi County Government has disbursed secondary school bursaries totaling KSh 35 million to its 15 wards.
The bursaries were issued on Tuesday, 17 September 2024, with each ward receiving an allocation of KSh 2,180,000.
Tharaka Nithi County Assembly Speaker, John Mbabu, noted that the County Government, under the leadership of Governor Muthomi Njuki, managed to allocate the funds from its own-source revenue, where he emphasized that while bursaries are typically awarded under the National Government through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), the county government extended its mandate to support education.
“Education is not devolved, the County Government is responsible for ECDE and TVET, but the Governor has always extended his support to education in the county through such initiatives,” he said.
Speaker Mbabu also expressed gratitude to President William Ruto for gazetting a committee to review the new university funding model.
He mentioned that the County Government is in the process of amending the Bursary Act of 2014 to include university students in future disbursements.
“As we speak, the County Executive has sent an amendment to the Bursary Act of 2014, so that next time, we will also give university students bursaries,” he added.
Karingani Ward MCA, Godfrey Gaturo, who also serves as the County Assembly Finance Committee Chairperson, explained that the County Government had to prioritize the needy and less fortunate due to limited funds, adding that not all applicants could be accommodated.
“We can’t all get bursaries. We had to prioritize the needy and most deserving in society. For day school students, we allocate a minimum of KSh 2,000 and a minimum of KSh 5,000 for those in boarding schools. There are not enough funds to allocate bursaries to everyone,” he said.
In Karingani Ward, for example, out of 2,000 applicants, 589 were selected for bursary allocations.
Chuka Sub-County Administrator Alexander Mugendi (Wa Festu) and Mugwe Ward MCA Jacob Ndeke Kiriko, during their addresses at the bursary disbursement, criticized Chuka Igambang’ombe MP Patrick Munene for not allocating sufficient funds through his office for bursaries.
Both leaders rallied support for Speaker John Mbabu in his bid for the MP seat in the 2027 general elections.
