Two Kenyans File Petition Opposing Decision to Bar Counties From Issuing Bursaries

Two Mombasa residents on Wednesday petitioned the High Court to challenge the implementation of Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o’s decision to bar counties from issuing bursaries.

Judge Jairus Ngaah certified the case as urgent and directed the petitioners to serve the court documents on Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, Controller of Budget (CoB) Nyakang’o, and Attorney-General Dorcas Oduor.

“The application is certified urgent. I direct that the application be served forthwith and in any event, not later than three days from today’s date. I direct the respondents to file and serve their response within seven days of the date of service of the application,” said the judge.

The motion is scheduled for mention on February 19 to determine the way forward.

The petition comes just over a week after Nyakang’o released a circular that denied county governments the authority to issue bursaries to students in primary schools, secondary schools, and universities, citing that it was the mandate of the national government.

In their petition, the residents argued that if the directive is implemented, any disbursements intended for bursaries at the county level will be delayed, thereby affecting children who rely on these bursaries for their education.

They also echoed the Council of Governors’ (COG) stance that the issuance of bursaries by counties is constitutional.

“This (the circular) is not only unconstitutional but threatens to undermine the role of devolution as enshrined in the constitution,” part of the petition read.

“That the above circular places an unreasonable and unexpected financial restriction upon county governments, specifically on the issuance of bursaries for needy students, even as it is the 2nd Respondent (CoB) that approves County government requisitions, based on the itemised budget estimates arrived at after negotiations with the Commission on Revenue Allocation.”

The petitioners highlighted that the decision would severely cripple Mombasa County’s bursary scheme, which has been providing scholarships to needy students for over a decade.

The programme, known as the Elimu Scheme, was constituted under the Mombasa County Elimu Scheme Act, 2023.

Since its launch in 2014, the scheme has disbursed over Ksh700 million to support secondary school, college, special needs, university, and city polytechnic students in need.