Machakos tops list
of stolen bursaries
Machakos Town Constituency is claiming the biggest chunk of bursary funds that can not be accounted for with a figure of Kes 45million.
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| Figure by The Daily Nation |
A report from the Auditor General puts the exact figure at Kes 45,106,000, making it the highest figure in Kenya of suspected stolen funds from the bursary scheme.
Two more constituencies- Mwala and Kitui West feature in the list, with Mwala showing Kes 27,214,000 suspected stolen, while Kitui West has Kes18,892,000 missing.
The figures stand out like a sore toe because millions of poor students continue to miss school due to biting poverty levels in the villages in those constituencies. Most likely, those culpable of the theft are well-to-do people who have been appointed by Members of Parliament in the respective constituencies to manage the funds.
Worse still, the revelations come as schools in Lower Eastern Region remain practically missing from the list of top performing schools in the 2022 KCSE examination. For instance, the top National School- Machakos School, had only one 'A' Grade, compared to Mangu High School that had over 80 'A's, more than all the 'A' grades attained in the three counties of Machakos, Kitui and Makueni.
The theft highlights why MPs must be restrained by all means from presiding over public funds such as Constituency Development Funds as decreed by the Supreme Court of Kenya that found CDF to be unconstitutional due to the fact that it vests MPs with a role in its management- while it is a funtion of the executive.
It remains to be seen how MPs will vote on the action to be taken on their hirelings.
