Senators have turned the heat on governors over widespread
mismanagement of county bursaries.
This follows revelations of missing beneficiary records and
illegal disbursements, including payments to seemingly non-existent
beneficiaries.
A report by the Senate County Public Investment and Special
Funds Committee revealed that many counties failed to maintain basic
documentation for bursaries.
This has made it impossible to verify the existence,
accuracy or recoverability of funds disbursed to students and other
beneficiaries.
The findings show that key programmes such as education
revolving funds, bursary schemes and empowerment funds are operating without
beneficiary lists or recovery plans, despite handling substantial public
resources.
In many cases, bursaries are awarded to students without
admission or registration numbers.
In other instances, multiple disbursements are made to
students with the same admission numbers.
The committee criticised counties for breaching their own
laws, with some disbursing amounts above the limits set out in their respective
bursary fund legislation or schedules.
“These breaches of law call into question the propriety and
regularity of bursary expenditure,” the report noted.
The committee added that such irregularities undermine
fairness and transparency in allocation, raising concerns about whether limited
resources are reaching the most deserving students.
Additional weaknesses were also noted in the composition of
bursary boards, with some counties operating without properly constituted
governance structures, further weakening oversight and accountability.
At the same time, the report exposed severe budgetary
challenges across counties, including underfunding, weak budget execution and
unrealistic financial planning.
In several cases, county executives failed to release the
full approved budgets to special funds, crippling programme implementation and
denying beneficiaries access to essential services.
The committee observed that some funds received less than 40
per cent of their approved allocations, significantly disrupting operations and
service delivery.
In a stark example, Siaya county’s bursary fund received
none of its approved Sh134 million allocation for the financial year — a 100
per cent underfunding that the committee said had no official explanation.
“The entire approved budget of Sh134,000,000 was not
disbursed, with no official communication or justification provided,” the
report states.
The committee warned that persistent underfunding and weak
financial controls are undermining the effectiveness of devolved funds and
eroding public confidence in county financial management systems.
In Bomet county, the Education Revolving Fund recorded
long-term receivables of Sh35.7 million issued to 2,836 students.
However, the county failed to provide beneficiary lists,
ageing analysis or provisions for bad debts. Cash balances of Sh4.3 million
were also unsupported.
County management told the committee that the Higher
Education Loans Board manages the funds, with the county only receiving
reports.
However, lawmakers stressed that such arrangements still
require full accountability at the county level.
In Lamu county, the report cited long-outstanding loans and
imprests dating back to 2013 and 2015 with no structured recovery system.
Some loans were issued without adequate securities or
insurance cover, heightening the risk of losses.
Kwale county was also flagged for millions of shillings in
outstanding receivables, with no evidence of loan agreements, repayment plans
or active recovery efforts, contrary to public finance regulations.
Tharaka Nithi county similarly had long-outstanding debts
across multiple funds, with auditors noting weak documentation and inadequate
recovery measures.
The committee said the absence of proper records and
enforcement systems has crippled counties’ ability to track repayments and
ensure revolving funds remain sustainable.
