- One of the seven learners brought to the assembly to speak of their predicaments, suddenly found her name in the list
- This is despite missing school for almost three weeks because of lack of school fees
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Enock Ongoro had given up hope of completing his secondary education after he missed out on the Mombasa County Elimu Fund Bursary.
His father was about to take him back to Kisumu when Shanzu MCA Allen Katana offered to educate him.
Ongoro, a Form 2 student at the Mwembe Legeza Secondary School in Kisauni, has been living with his father in Mombasa for 10 years now.
Wycly Wangari, a Form 3 student at Junda High School, missed school for a whole term due to lack of school fees.
She also applied for the bursary but missed out because she could not produce her previous term’s report.
“She could not give the board the report because she had not been in school for a whole term and that is why she applied for the bursary," Katana told the county assembly on Wednesday.
Wangari is the head girl at at Junda High School.
Ongoro and Wangari are among hundreds of learners who did not receive bursaries and were not given any explanations.
Elimu Fund Board was at pains to explain why so many learners missed bursaries while at the same time the list of beneficiaries had glaring anomalies.
For instance, Joho Girls High School list of beneficiaries had more than 30 names of male students.
One of the seven learners brought to the assembly to speak of their predicaments, suddenly found her name in the list.
This is despite missing school for almost three weeks because of lack of school fees.
Angry MCAs called for the disbandment of the board and firing of education executive Mbwarali Kame.
Kadzandani MCA Fatma Kushe said the county is full of incompetent officers.
“Any salaried person who does not serve the public well has no business being in office," she said.
“We cannot let our people suffer because of incompetence. We are the ones under pressure because we are answerable to the electorates.”
Speaker Aharub Khatri said the board was allocated Sh600 million for bursaries.
“When we first met at Al Farsy school, we did our calculations and found out that the 42,000 learners will be given Sh5,000 each, amounting to Sh210 million," he said.
“How come there are learners missing bursaries yet the board’s motto is No child left behind?”
He said some of the bursary applicants were asked state their parents' voting stations.
“The Act that established this fund did not say bursaries should be issued according to one's polling station. It states that beneficiaries should be residents of Mombasa,” Khatri said.
CEO John Musuva said 55,190 application forms were issued and 37,171 were returned.
Of those returned, 6,080 forms missed key documents and information.
Only 31,092 students qualified.
The MCAs questioned the whereabouts of the remaining Sh95 million.
Kame defended the board saying some day schools in Mombasa have learners from other counties.
“Go to Tononoka Secondary. You will find students from Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River and even Lamu counties,” the education executive said.
Mjambere MCA Amriya Boy said the learners cannot commute daily from Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River and Lamu.
“It means they are residing in Mombasa to attend school. These bursaries are for residents of Mombasa,” she said.
Nominated MCA Milka Areba said the board’s documents have discrepancies.
“In one of the documents, it is stated that administrative costs amounted to Sh11 million. In another document for the same fiscal year, it is indicated that the administrative cost is Sh40 million. Which is the correct figure?” she asked.
CEO Musuva was at pains to explain the discrepancies.
Education committee chairperson Ibrahim Oyugi said many questions remained unanswered by the board yet there are many gaps in the books.
“We are only doing our oversight role. There are no strings attached,” he said.
The session was adjourned to give the board time to put its house in order, before the assembly makes a decision.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO