1,000 Kiambu students benefit from Sh7m NGAAF bursaries

Over 1,000 Kiambu county students have benefitted from bursaries worth over Sh7 million from the National Government Affirmative Action Fund.

The fund is under the patronage of Woman Representative Anne Wamuratha.

Speaking at her office in Kiambu town on Saturday, Wamuratha said beneficiaries from secondary schools received Sh8,000 each,  while those in colleges, TVETs and universities got Sh10,000 each from the total Sh7,619,615 that was disbursed.

Wamuratha said Kenyans are ready to pay taxes, urging the government to ensure the collected taxes fund free education among other developments and services, to ease the burden of parents having to pay school fees.

“Kenyans are not refusing to pay taxes but they are more concerned about where it will go. Those who are in charge of collecting taxes should look into what the taxes collected are used for. We do not want to be taxed then when we go to hospitals we are told to pay, or Kenyans are told to go wait for bursaries, the collected taxes should fund all this,” the MP said.

She said Kenyans are struggling to raise money to pay for school fees due to the high cost of living with many resulting to apply for bursary.

“it is not the wish of Kenyans to come and look for bursaries, it is the high cost of living that has pushed them. The taxes should help fund free education,” she said.

Riabai MCA Hezron Gachui  said Kenyans are struggling and leaders should unite and find solutions to ease the education fee burden, and ensure the needy and vulnerable cases are addressed first.

“The leaders should unite when we are doing good things for our people. We should also unite as governments because this kitty is for helping our people,” Gachui said.

He said the MCAs will legislate for funds to be availed so that needy cases are addressed especially for those joining Form 1, since the burden is heavy.

“The county government has set aside Sh100 million for bursaries that will be disbursed next week,  we urge Governor Kimani Wamatangi to also set aside a kitty for Form 1 admission to ease the burden of those who are unable to raise funds to enrol their children to Form 1,” he said.

Winfred Wairimu a beneficiary of the NGAAF bursary said the government should reconsider funding education better as some of the families cannot be able to raise funds for school fees at all.

“We are urging the government to consider free education so that all children can go to school without having the pressure of paying school fees,” Wairimu said.

Jane Njeri a beneficiary, said not all families are the same and the government should ensure all students go to school and be allowed to study since the high cost of living has taken a toll on many families hence unable to pay for school fees.

“The government should ensure they help students whose parents do not have the strength to pay school fees to avoid dropping out of school,” she said.