March 18, 2024

Lamu West Candidate Promises Fair Bursary Allocation

Lamu West parliamentary candidate Josephat Musembi engages with Hongwe residents in Mpeketoni area during a meet the people tour (Photo by Julian Anyango)

By Jillian Anyango

Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com

Lamu West parliamentary candidate says distribution of bursaries by the local CDF committee has been unfair. 

He is now promising to ensure fair and transparent allocations once he is elected, as he says some of area’s 10 wards have been left out.

Speaking in Hongwe on Wednesday June 29 while on a meet-the-people forum, the Usawa Kwa Wote Party candidate stated that hundreds of parents had already complained to him how they had continually missed out on CDF bursary lists for years, despite applying all the times.

“Once elected every Lamu student going to secondary or college will be eligible to receive a bursary in order to ensure that the dropout rates are curtailed,” he said.

The former Trade and tourism CEC cum politician further took issue with the selection criteria being used to allocate the CDF bursary’s noting that the current MP’s tenure in handling the CDF kitty has been mired by favoritism and nepotism.

“My tenure once elected will seek to support the County government’s efforts to improve education standards in Lamu,” he said.


A section of students in Lamu walking to school (Photo / Courtesy)

 Dilapidated Schools

He noted that there is need for a concerted effort among parents, guardians, and education stakeholders as well as elected leaders to provide goodwill both in financing education and rehabilitating the schools within the county.

Musembi revealed that the state of most primary schools in Lamu West are dismal despite huge CDF allocations. 

“With all the reported disbursements we would expect to see better buildings and more classrooms than we are seeing now,” Mr Musembi said.

He added: “Once elected I will lobby parliament to pass the Equalization Fund to help in making the schools in remote parts of this constituency even better.”

Lamu Bujra secondary School (Photo/Courtesy)

 Abuse of Power

He warned that the leaders have in the past used bursaries to gain political mileage instead of assisting needy students.

“You find a situation where areas perceived not to be friendly or with fewer votes to the current MP have been ignored at the expense of support bases,” he said.

Sentiments echoed by a Mpeketoni resident Nana Shee who stated that a vote for Musembi would signal a break from the old form of leadership that she observed has not been people centered.

 She noted that the area has lagged behind in terms of education which has in turn slowed down its development.

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