The selection for the beneficiaries of the Bungoma governor’s scholarship programme will start on December 15.
The initiative will help needy and bright students who are set to join secondary schools next year from across all the nine constituencies.
Governor Wycliffe Wangamati said the recruitment will be free and fair to ensure only the right students benefit. He spoke in Bukembe East ward during the burial of country public relations officer Bony Wayne Nyongesa’s mother.
“If we have a student who has qualified to join a national school, but comes from a poor family, let the guardian visit the ward administrators’ offices from December 15,” Wangamati said.
On sugarcane farming, he said as per the agreement with Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri, farmers owed by Nzoia Sugar Company will receive their payments directly from the exchequer. “We agreed with the CS that farmers’ money should be paid directly to their bank accounts when the national government releases bailout funds this December,” Wangamati said.
He said they agreed the farmers will be paid by December 15. “Now that exams are out, these farmers need their money to take their children to school next year,” the governor said.
In January, Wangamati defended the county’s bursary allocations against claims of bias and lack of transparency. He said the programme is undertaken in phases. “The awards follow the same process of public participation to ensure transparency at all levels,” he said. The county boss said the cash is distributed equitably.