Machakos Town CBF
pays a paltry Sh.3,000
By The Anchor Reporter
Two weeks after The Anchor reported the anguish facing a Form Three student -Annastaciah Nduku- who was expelled from Machakos Girls due to ballooning fees balance, action has been taken.
Her appeal for help comes handy. It exposes the scandal that the Constituency Bursary Fund has become- a fund for both rich and poos students.
Evidence available shows that Nduku has been allocated only Kes 3,000 even as her fees remains unpaid to the tune of nearly Kes 70,000 due to the poverty levels endured by her ailing mother.
Her name is among the beneficiaries of over Kes 363,000 that was send to Machakos Girls High school to aid all 121 applicants for the fund. CBF was designed to aid bright children from poor or orphaned backgrounds. But today, fund managers are under instruction to flash the political card by awarding all applicants on a flat rate- irrespective of whether one deserves bursary or not.
Machakos Town MP Caleb Mule was touched by our story but was only able to support the girl to go back to school with a note about the bursary allocation and a promise to her Aunt that another Kes.10,000 would be paid to the school before the end of the week.
Mr. Mule sent one of his office assistants to the school where an agreement was reached between the office of the MP and Machakos Girls administration on how the remaining school fee balance would be cleared.
Bearing in mind how Nduku's family is languishing in aggregate poverty, it remains anyone's guess how Nduku managed to mobilize money her shopping and other personal needs- meaning that the CBF framework and administration must bear a broader view of supporting needy children beyond payment of school fees.
How many other children are going through the same predicament and are suffering in silence?
