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{
    "id": 1562846,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1562846/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 285,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "This Motion is trying to achieve only one thing - to fight discrimination when it comes to issuing of bursaries. Who gets the bursary? The person who gets the bursary is that person who probably knows the Member of Parliament (MP) or fills those forms or is in the campaign team of those who are issuing bursaries. So, when we look at it that way, we see that not every child gets bursary. This begs the question, what do we do to make sure that the needy gets the bursary, goes to school to learn, especially in secondary education, without paying any school fees? Madam Temporary Speaker, the Constitution of Kenya 2010, under Article 53(1)(b) says, “(1) Every child has a right (b) to free and compulsory basic education;” Secondary school education is part of it, and so, if we continue disbursing bursaries the way we do it today, we will find out that sometimes the needy among the needy do not get these bursaries. I want you to remember that the bursaries are also part of the national goal of achieving universal basic education and fulfilling Kenya Vision 2030. So, everybody agrees that we require bursaries. Everyone agrees that we need to send our children to school and pay for their education. So, this begs the question, are we providing that within the current setup or within the way the bursaries are issued? That is the question that I will be answering as I move this Motion. Before I get there, let us ask ourselves, who currently issues bursaries? Who gives bursaries and how much is involved? We have the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF); that is, the Members of Parliament. They give bursaries for secondary school and tertiary education in the amount from Kshs20 million to Kshs70 million per constituency. We have National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) by Women Representatives. They give bursaries of between Ksh10 million to Kshs20 million per year per county. We have the county governments, that is, the governors and the Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs), who give bursaries. The Ministry of Education also gives bursaries. The president himself gives bursaries and his bursaries are in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. So, the only person who does not give bursaries from the six people who are voted for by Kenyans, all the way from MCAs to the President, are the Senators. That is probably a good thing because now we can discuss this issue from both perspectives; those who give and those who do not give. If you do the maths, if every constituency gives an average of Kshs50 million and we have 290 constituencies, that will be about Kshs14.5 billion. I want you to keep in mind that the constituencies give about 14.5 billion for bursaries every year. For the Women Representatives, Kshs15 million, multiply by 47. That is about Kshs700 million. The county governments give bursaries from Kshs200 to Kshs500 million per year per county. We go with the highest, Kshsh500 million per year, that will be about Kshs23.5 billion. Who knows what the Ministry of Education gives? We do not know how much they give as bursaries. We do not know how much the President gives as bursaries. That 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."
}