The tussle over control of billions of shillings in the education sector between the national and county governments has escalated following a directive by the Controller of Budget banning governors from disbursing bursaries to secondary schools.

This development comes just weeks after the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee (SCPI&SFC) tabled a report in the Senate pointing out that funding for primary, secondary, tertiary, and university education is not part of devolved functions.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has joined the fray, warning that county education programmes risk collapsing due to a directive from the Controller of Budget, Margaret Nyakang’o, imposing funding restrictions on county governments.