Ndindi Nyoro pleads with gov't to boost NG-CDF kitty, grant counties ability to issue bursaries

Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro has urged the government to increase funding for the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) and county bursary programs, emphasising the need to prioritise education in the upcoming budget.

The legislator stated that NG-CDF plays a vital role in supporting needy students and called for more resources instead of debating over its existence.

“For equity to thrive, we must step down resources from the national government in Nairobi, to the grassroots. That is why we must support CDF, to get more funding, because without it, it can be very hard to access funds at the grassroots,” he said.

“The debate in the country should not be whether the CDF should exist or not, it should be whether we are going to add more resources into the NG-CDF.”

Nyoro, at the same time asked the Ministry of Education to oversee matters of capitation to schools, noting that the monies released in batches do not serve the intended purpose and thus lead schools to debts.

He also asked the Controller of Budget to allow governors to continue issuing bursaries, warning that stopping them would hurt many families.

“I also want to ask the controller of budget to please allow our governors and our counties to continue disbursing bursaries the way they have been doing because if they stop, many households will suffer. There are no national government children or county children; they are all our kids,” stated Nyoro.

He further pushed for prompt disbursement of school capitation funds and proposed that village elders be given a monthly stipend of at least Ksh.8,000 due to their important role at the grassroots level.