By Arnold Ageta
Bonyamatuta Ward MCA, Julius Matwere, has officially rolled out the issuance of bursary application forms for form 1 and 2 students.
The MCA started issuing the applications at every polling center in Bonyamatuta Ward, stating that it is easier and more accessible to everyone compared to the previous method where residents were required to pick up forms from the Ward offices.
“I am using my 14 polling centers to issue the forms, and this exercise will take two days to complete,” he said. “Today, I have covered eight polling stations, and tomorrow, I will cover the remaining ones.”
Addressing the media at Kabati Primary School while issuing the forms, the MCA emphasized that the bursaries are meant for the less privileged in the community, such as total orphans who have nobody to depend on.
“To help people avoid traveling far and prevent residents from other wards from picking up the application forms, I decided to use polling centers that are near the residents’ homes,” he said.
To receive the forms, parents and guardians were required to produce the students’ report forms, admission letters, and death certificates for partial and total orphans.
Nyamatuta Ward will receive KSh. 3.2 million out of the County’s KSh. 84 million budgeted for county bursaries.
“Every student will receive at least KSh. 3000, while total orphans will receive over KSh. 5000 for their school fees,” he clarified.
He further clarified that only form 1 and form 2 students will benefit from the county bursaries.
Students in forms 3 and 4 had already received bursaries from the area MP through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in February of this year.
“We had made an agreement that CDF caters for forms 3 and 4, and the county supports forms 1 and 2,” said Matwere.
However, he encouraged parents to work hard to pay school fees for their children because the bursaries will not fully cover their expenses.
“It is the responsibility of the parent to pay the school fees for their children. What these bursaries are doing is just boosting what the parents are doing in the education of their children,” he explained.
John Kebaso, a parent at Kabatia Primary School, applauded the MCA for the bold move he made to use polling centers.
“What he has done has never been done before and has not been done anywhere,” he said happily. “We have previously struggled to access these forms, but today he has brought them here, near our homes.”
He added that since every primary school is a polling center, many people will be reached to receive the forms.
“I can confidently say that everyone who was supposed to receive application forms has received them. As you can see, everyone is satisfied here,” he said.
He asked the MCA to continue fighting until the budget is further boosted in the county. He said that if the budgetary allocation of the bursaries is increased, many needy students will be catered for.
Echoing John Kebaso’s sentiments, Beatrice Kamanda thanked the MCA for the efforts he has put in to ensure everyone receives the application forms.
“He has always fought for the needy in the area, and we believe he will do more to support them,” she said.
She admitted that previously, there was no transparency in the process, but now they are happy with it.
“As you witnessed, everyone received the forms, and there were no fights as there were before,” she said.
