.jpg)
Senate Assembly
Senators could be headed for a big war with governors and MCAs after the lawmakers called for scrapping of county bursary funds.
In a radical recommendation, the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee said the counties are operating the funds illegally.
“Governors should ensure that all county-established bursary funds are abolished,” the committee said in its report on the consideration of the Auditor General’s reports on county bursary funds tabled in the Senate.
The panel chaired by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi said funding of primary, secondary, tertiary, and university education falls outside the devolved functions of county governments.
Under the Fourth Schedule of the constitution, the committee said county governments are responsible for pre-primary education, polytechnics, home craft centres and childcare facilities.
The national government, on the other hand, oversees universities, tertiary institutions, primary and secondary schools, special education, and research institutions.
“However, counties have allocated funds for bursaries across primary, secondary, tertiary, and university levels, diverting resources from their constitutionally devolved functions,” the report states.
“Resources currently allocated to bursaries should be redirected towards essential county responsibilities as outlined in the constitution,” the committee said.
The call could trigger a backlash from the governors and MCAs, who have been disbursing bursaries to their constituents.
The county leaders have often argued the funds are meant to help poor students who miss out on other bursaries and scholarships offered by the national government.
However, some observers say the bursary funds are political tools for governors and MCAs.
The senators said the county governments are operating multiple bursary funds.
In some counties, there are ward bursaries which are largely controlled by MCAs and governors’ bursaries managed by the executives.
“The committee observed that there were multiple cases across various counties where students received bursaries from multiple wards within the same county,” the report reads.
This led to some deserving students missing out on financial support altogether.Additionally, certain students received bursaries from both the County Bursary Fund and other donors, further limiting the equitable distribution of resources.
“The County Executive Committee Members responsible for matters relating to finance ensure that the bursary funds operate under a centralised system across all wards to streamline the allocation of funds,” the panel recommended.
Further, some counties are operating bursary funds without regulations.
“The committee observed that certain bursary fund regulations were made by County Executive Committee Members under the national Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, Cap.412A,” the panel said.
However, section 205(1) of the Act grants only the Cabinet Secretary responsible for matters relating to finance the authority to make regulations.
“Regulations within the county should instead be formulated under country-specific legislations,” the senators said.
Further, the Osotsi-led committee said reliance on the national law to develop county-specific regulations highlights the inadequacy of the offices of the county attorney in providing necessary legal and technical advice to their counties.
“The governors ensure the development and enactment of a county-specific act to guide the establishment and management of bursary fund regulations, ensuring alignment with devolved governance structures,” the report states.
Additionally, the lawmakers called on the governors to ensure the capacity of all county attorneys is continuously enhanced through participation in professional development activities to support compliance with constitutional and legal mandates.
