Juja MP Koimburi advocates for one-man one-shilling policy after low bursary allocations

Leaders and residents of Kiambu County have reignited the one-man one-vote one-shilling national resources sharing formula which they insist holds key solutions to poor allocation of funds to highly populated constituencies that have been getting raw deals.

Led by Juja MP George Koimburi, the leaders decried that the current formula for the allocation of national government CDF has continued to deny fair distribution of education bursaries to bright learners from poor backgrounds.

He said students from highly populated constituencies have been receiving peanuts in form of education aids from the government, a move that has not only affected their performance as they are often sent home to collect school fees but also their learning morale.

Speaking when he distributed Ksh.23 million worth of cheques to students studying in boarding schools, the MP called on legislators to back the proposals brought in parliament to have the one-man one-shilling formula implemented or facilitate renaming of populous constituencies as super.

"We want the government to give us more money and to back this proposal we have tabled in parliament. We have tried to vet these bursaries to ensure that needy students are not chased from school, we have tried to help children with disabilities, orphans and some are still left home," he said. 

The MP clarified that while they have been seeking a review of boundaries to have new constituencies created for more allocations if the government can agree to allocate populous constituencies more resources, the heavy load of distributing the money they get would become easy to carry.

He noted that some of the constituencies such as Thika, Ruiru, Juja, Kasarani, Mwea among others are overpopulated and the MPs are having a hard time in serving them with the meager resources they are receiving. Ruiru is currently the most populated constituency with a population of close to 700,000 residents.

Koimburi rooted for the dire need to address the imbalances in sharing the NGCDF kitty amongst constituencies saying that regions with huge populations should be given the 'Super Constituencies' status to enable them to get a lion's share of the kitty.

"We have seen in Eastern Kenya they are being given enough money which allows them to school their children from Form 1 to University," he said.

His sentiments were echoed by residents who decried having received very little to support their children in school.

On his part, Murera Ward MCA Ngatha Wambiri who also joined locals to rally for more allocation of funds to populated constituencies and counties said Kiambu County assembly had passed the supplementary bill that allocated Ksh.100 million more for bursaries and which he said will help fill the gaps left by the national government kitty.