CS Julius Ogamba Steps in to Resolve Standoff After Controller of Budget Blocked Governors from Bursaries

The government has broken its silence on the ongoing standoff over bursary allocations by county governments following a directive from the Controller of Budget (CoB), Margaret Nyakang’o, barring county governors from distributing bursaries to students nationwide.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, while speaking during the Social Health Authority registration tour in Mombasa on Thursday, revealed that the government was engaging with CoB to find a solution.

According to Ogamba, the negotiations will seek to address how the issue could be amicably solved so that the learning of thousands of learners who depend on the allocations is not impacted. 

”With respect to the issue of bursaries of counties visa vis the students they support, this issue with respect to the Controller of Budget is being and soon will get a win-win solution for that challenge,” Ogamba stated.

The CS’s remarks follow a directive issued by Nyakang’o on January 14, stating that students joining universities and other tertiary institutions should not receive bursaries from county governments, as this responsibility falls under the National Government.

”Part 1 of the Fourth Schedule under Section 16 designates universities, tertiary educational institutions, primary schools, special education, secondary schools, and special education institutions as functions of the national government,” a section of the letter read.

”Therefore, any requisition for withdrawal of funds to perform functions categorized as national government functions under Part I of the Fourth Schedule must be accompanied by the requisite intergovernmental agreement as prescribed,” it added.

This in essence had threatened to cripple the learning of thousands of students who rely on bursaries to fund their education as the standoff on the new Higher Education Funding Model persists.

Ogamba, at the same time, announced that the government would issue birth certificates to all students without birth certificates in Mombasa County.

To achieve this, the government will send officers from the Registration Bureau to the region to register the students as they register for SHA.  

”We are in consultation with the Ministry of Interior and we have agreed that from today, as we register the students, we are taking the records of all the students who do not have birth certificates,” Ogamba revealed.

”The registration bureau will be here from next week to register all the students and issue them with birth certificates,” he added. 

Meanwhile, the CS announced that the government completed the distribution of 9.9 million textbooks to grade 9 students across the country.