Governors up in arms as Controller of Budget bans issuance of bursaries

A directive from Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang'o on bursaries issued by county governments risks locking out thousands of students from school.

Nyakang'o, in a communication to all County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) of Finance, said any requisition for withdrawal of funds to perform functions under the national government must be accompanied by intergovernmental agreement.

She further stated that for county governments to offer educational support towards national government functions, there is need to transfer the function.

Governors have challenged the move claiming there is a political motive behind the decision as Nyakang'o had already approved their budgets which contained bursaries.

Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya said: "Sisi tungependa kuambia Controller of Budget kwamba hatufanyi hii kazi kwa sababu tunataka kutupa pesa, leo tukisema hatulipi karo ya watoto wale wako day school, masomo ya watoto 25,000 itakwishia hapo…wewe jiulize hawa watoto wakitoka shule wataenda wapi?”

His Nyeri counterpart Mutahi Kahiga noted: "As we are speaking, in almost every county there is an allocation for bursary which she approved in July, so what is this that has suddenly come up after she has approved budgets and now she requires Nyeri as a county sits with the government and signs participatory agreement to a function that has not been given to counties or national government?”

The Governors who read mischief in the directive want a meeting with the Controller of Budget to iron out the issues at hand.

ODM Governors, in a statement, called on Nyakang'o to reconsider the directive and to apply equitable measures that uphold the constitutional rights and responsibilities of both levels of government.

"Bila elimu ningekuwa nachoma makaa huko nje kwa hivyo watu wasiletee siasa kwa mambo ya elimu,” Natembeya added.

Kahiga stated: "Nyeri as a county has 180,000 students who are getting fully paid fees, are you telling us to discontinue their learning because CoB wants us to sign participatory agreements?”

The Intergovernmental relations committee which has welcomed the decision of the Controller of Budget is urging counties to engage the national government to avoid a situation where students will suffer.

The committee has also called for an education sector forum where stakeholders can deliberate on the matter and where they disagree, table the same to the summit.