Nakuru, Murang'a counties fight to have bursaries approved

Nakuru and Murang’a counties are challenging a High Court decision that prohibits devolved units from issuing education bursaries.

Nakuru has filed an appeal against Justice Samwel Mohochi’s ruling, which prevents the Controller of Budget (CoB) from approving bursary allocations.

“Nakuru County is dissatisfied with the ruling and intends to appeal against it in its entirety,” stated a notice of appeal submitted by lawyer Tom Ojienda.

Meanwhile, Murang’a County has sent a letter to Dr Margaret Nyakang’o, the CoB, requesting that her office approves the allocations.

In a letter dated September 8 drafted by lawyer Julia Munyua, the county argues that no substantive orders are preventing the CoB from approval.

Munyua emphasised the urgency, noting that schools have been open for three weeks and that the delay in disbursing bursary funds is concerning.

“The bursaries, which many students depend on to cover tuition and related expenses, have not yet been disbursed despite there being no restraining orders,” she argued.

“We kindly but urgently request that your office expedite the approval of our client's bursary requests to enable affected students to fully participate in their education."

In his ruling on June 17, Justice Mohochi reinstated orders barring the counties from disbursing bursaries to institutions beyond their jurisdiction, which includes primary and secondary schools, universities, colleges and special schools.

Mohochi upheld a January 14 circular from the CoB that clarified that county governments do not have the authority to issue bursaries to these institutions.

The order also suspended an agreement between the Dr Nyakang’o and the Council of Governors (CoG) that previously allowed county governments to continue issuing bursaries.

However, Mohochi clarified that his ruling only halts the issuance and approval of new bursaries and does not affect those that were approved for the previous financial year, which ended in June.

He also granted a stay of execution for 30 days, allowing the two counties time to appeal.

Due to the significance of the case, Mohochi referred it to Chief Justice Martha Koome to appoint a three-judge Bench.

In their petition, Katiba Institute and Nakuru civil rights activist Laban Omusundi challenged the CoB’s decision to amend the directives in her circular.

They sued Nakuru and Murang’a counties, the CoB, the National Treasury and Education Cabinet Secretaries, the National Assembly, and the Attorney General.

“Following the backlash, the CoB softened her stance, claiming that the circular had been misunderstood and was not meant to prevent counties from issuing bursaries,” they argued.

In response, Nakuru and Murang’a counties pointed out that the circular affects over 42,000 students who risk being sent home due to unpaid school fees in the second term.

Additionally, Murang’a has initiated contempt of court proceedings against Nyakang’o, alleging that she has refused to approve bursaries.