www.theweeklyvisionews.net
The immediate former Laikipia Governor Nderitu Muriithi is on the spot over gross mismanagement of bursary funds meant for needy students. The new county administration under Governor Joshua Irungu has discovered that needy students have been suffering at the hands of corrupt county officers who misused the cash meant for their education.
Investigations reveal that the Laikipia County Education Bursary Fund Act, 2014 provides that not more than 3% of the total monies consisting of the Fund shall be utilized for the administration of the Fund. However, it has been discovered that a total of Ksh. 1,711,472 was spent on administration and finance costs exceeding the maximum ceiling of Ksh. 1,533,000 by Ksh. 178,472.
The fund managers should therefore be held to account and explain under what circumstances they over-spent taxpayers’ money on administrative costs. The big question is how many students could have benefited from the Ksh. 178,472 if it had been paid for them as school fees?
To make matters worse, even the funds disbursed to schools cannot be accounted for after the receiving schools failed to confirm receiving Ksh. 38.6 million that the Laikipia County Bursary Fund claims to have disbursed. It has also been discovered that the Fund spent a total of Ksh. 1,695,000 on other administration expenses. However, the term for Ward Committee Members had expired in January 2020 and there was no evidence of their renewal.
Further, there were 11 Committee Members as per the payment schedule in Igwamiti Ward, whereas Section 6(2) of the Laikipia County Education Bursary Fund Act, 2014 provides for 8 Committee Members in each Ward. In addition, some of the Wards Committee Members did not have ID cards, KCSE certificates and experiences in community development, education, administration or management and leadership as provided by Section 6(3) of the Laikipia County Education Bursary Fund Act, 2014.
