Nairobi, CoB strike deal for release of Sh400m bursary money

Nairobi County and the office of the Controller of Budget have struck a deal on the release of the Sh400 million bursary fund, signalling hope for the end of a stalemate.

Budget and Appropriations committee chairman Robert Mbatia said the money will be released no later than July 10.

“The committee will meet the day after to review progress,” Mr Mbatia said on Saturday.

PRESSURE

The Executive has been under pressure, with members of county assembly threatening to paralyse operations in case of further delays in release of the money to more than 4,000 bright but needy students.

Mr Mbatia said the two parties agreed that the county's treasury department will submit statements to the CoB, showing how a sum of Sh357 million was used.

The CoB insisted that the county provide documentation for an unaccounted for expenditure of Sh90.5 million in the 2017/18 financial year before any disbursement is made.

According to the office, City Hall can only account for Sh252.9 million, consisting of Sh249.9 as disbursement, Sh3 million as administrative costs and a bank balance of Sh13.5 million.

“The county needs to submit the report as soon as possible to ensure Ifmis cut off does not lock out that pending expenditure as the financial year has elapsed,” said CoB.

BLAME

Mr Mbatia blamed the county treasury for the delays, saying it made requisitions for disbursement late in April, with just two months to the end of the financial year.

“The county waited too long into the financial year to make requisitions for bursaries, thereby causing delays," he said.

On April 2, however, Governor Mike Sonko paraded MCAs with boxes believed to have contained bursary cheques.

While launching an electronic funds transfer system, Mr Sonko announced then that the money would be sent directly into the accounts of the students.

The MCAs later complained that students were yet to receive the money and that no school had confirmed receipt. They claimed the boxes they were given did not have cheques.

CIRCUS

The circus around the release of the funds has been rumbling seen December 2018 when the Executive promised to disburse the funds.

Under the Ffund, each of the 85 wards in the county is supposed to get Sh3.5 million, with the rest going to the governor’s scholarship programme which has more than 1,000 beneficiaries.

Top three students from each of the 205 public primary and around 100 secondary schools in Nairobi gets around Sh53,000 every year.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, agitated Ward Representatives stormed out of the plenary in protest shouting “no bursaries, no sittings”.

Acting Speaker Chege Mwaura warned the Executive that they will not be held at ransom; he demanded that the Executive, led by Governor Sonko, give them a comprehensive undertaking over the disbursement of the funds.

“If they will not give us a comprehensive undertaking of when the money will be disbursed, we will go stall government business, including budget activities,” he said.