Enock Ongoro had lost hope of finishing his secondary education after failing to secure the Mombasa County Elimu Fund Bursary. Just as his father was preparing to return him to Kisumu, Shanzu MCA Allen Katana stepped in and offered to fund Ongoro’s education. Ongoro, a Form 2 student at Mwembe Legeza Secondary School in Kisauni, has lived with his father in Mombasa for the past 10 years.
Wycly Wangari, a Form 3 student at Junda High School, missed an entire term of school due to a lack of fees. She had also applied for the bursary but was denied because she could not provide her previous term’s report, which she could not obtain due to her absence from school. Wangari, the head girl at Junda High School, was affected by this issue.
Both Ongoro and Wangari are among numerous students who did not receive bursaries and were left without explanations. The Elimu Fund Board faced criticism for the high number of students who missed out on bursaries and for the anomalies in the list of beneficiaries, including a list from Joho Girls High School that mistakenly included over 30 male names.
One student, who had missed almost three weeks of school due to fee issues, unexpectedly found her name on the list of beneficiaries. This led to anger among the county assembly members, who demanded the disbandment of the board and the dismissal of education executive Mbwarali Kame. Kadzandani MCA Fatma Kushe criticized the county for having incompetent officials.
“Any salaried person who does not serve the public well has no business being in office,” she said.
“We cannot let our people suffer because of incompetence. We are the ones under pressure because we are answerable to the electorates.”
Speaker Aharub Khatri said the board was allocated Sh600 million for bursaries.
“When we first met at Al Farsy school, we did our calculations and found out that the 42,000 learners will be given Sh5,000 each, amounting to Sh210 million,” he said.
“How come there are learners missing bursaries yet the board’s motto is No child left behind?”
He said some of the bursary applicants were asked state their parents’ voting stations.
“The Act that established this fund did not say bursaries should be issued according to one’s polling station. It states that beneficiaries should be residents of Mombasa,” Khatri said.
CEO John Musuva said 55,190 application forms were issued and 37,171 were returned.
Of those returned, 6,080 forms missed key documents and information.
Only 31,092 students qualified.
The MCAs questioned the whereabouts of the remaining Sh95 million.
Kame defended the board saying some day schools in Mombasa have learners from other counties.
“Go to Tononoka Secondary. You will find students from Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River and even Lamu counties,” the education executive said.
Mjambere MCA Amriya Boy said the learners cannot commute daily from Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River and Lamu.
“It means they are residing in Mombasa to attend school. These bursaries are for residents of Mombasa,” she said.
Nominated MCA Milka Areba said the board’s documents have discrepancies.
“In one of the documents, it is stated that administrative costs amounted to Sh11 million. In another document for the same fiscal year, it is indicated that the administrative cost is Sh40 million. Which is the correct figure?” she asked.
CEO Musuva was at pains to explain the discrepancies.
Education committee chairperson Ibrahim Oyugi said many questions remained unanswered by the board yet there are many gaps in the books.
“We are only doing our oversight role. There are no strings attached,” he said.
The session was adjourned to give the board time to put its house in order, before the assembly makes a decision.
