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"content": "his is in view of the fact that the Government, through the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, hon. John Mbadi pays a capitation of Kshs1,420 per learner for the lower school, that is, free primary education, which is covered by Sections 14 to 20 of the Basic Education Act, No. 14 of 2013. The reduction of the initial sum of Kshs22,244 paid to secondary school students now stands at Kshs15,042. The Government has now released KShs14 billion, and there is a balance. The term is not over; it is only half-term and, therefore, the precipitate action taken by the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association is uncalled for. It is uncalled for because in the day schools, parents pay up to Kshs12,000 per year after the capitation is received, and parents cannot be put under the pressure of adding any further sums because the Cabinet Secretary Finance has indicated that the payment shall be made. This Statement, however, is important because the Government must ensure that payments are made within time. There has been a delay, and some parents are, therefore, claiming that money should be refunded when they paid more money. This Statement is also apt because it concerns the ordinary parent, and this is not a time when parents should be asked to dig into their pockets to add more money. The Basic Education Act, Cap 211 of the laws of Kenya, contemplates a level of education that parents can afford. It contemplates contributions from both the national Government and parents' pockets. I support this Statement to the extent that it ensures that responsibility by the Ministry of Education is carried out at the levels that are set out. This morning, I had to visit the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Mr. Julius Ogamba, Senior Counsel, who is my classmate – I have classmates in Cabinet. These are some of the issues that I raised, and the Cabinet Secretary was emphatic that there shall be timely release of capitation funds as contemplated by the guidelines. He also indicated that he has worked on the university funding model. With the assistance of his technical staff, he has gone through all the issues that touch on the education sector, and we hope that the Cabinet Secretary will continue to do the good work that he is doing. Lastly, on cattle rustling, we buried the late Sen. Cheptumo on Saturday. He had worked on a Bill on cattle rustling. As the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, we shall ensure that we prioritise that Bill so that cattle rustling can be a thing of the past in this country. Cattle rustling, as we can see, is rampant in certain counties, including West Pokot and Laikipia, where we can see the Statement by Sen. Kinyua. Even in some counties like my county, in Nyakach, which is the border sub-county with the Senator The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}