Automate bursary, scholarship processes, NG-CDF board urged

 

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu before the National Assembly's Cohesion Committee. April 15, 2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) board is on the spot over its style of managing the scholarships and bursaries it oversees, which has led to inconsistencies in awarding.

This is contained in the Auditor General’s performance audit report on the provision of bursaries and scholarships by NG-CDF, which assessed the extent to which it has ensured access to the funds by needy and deserving students.

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu said in the report that the NG-CDF and constituency committees have not ensured equitable allocation of bursaries, with cases of applicants receiving a uniform amount of funds, regardless of their individual financial needs, capabilities, or total school fees.

Gathungu noted that the committees failed to conduct due diligence of applicants, resulting in a flawed and unverifiable vetting process and failure to be thorough allowed non-deserving applicants to benefit at the expense of genuinely needy learners.

“NG-CDF has not ensured timely disbursement of funds to learning institutions. Funds are frequently disbursed late and misaligned with the school calendar. These delays create a ripple effect, often leading to potential beneficiaries missing classes. Ultimately, the lost class time results in an economic loss, and the Fund's objective of enhancing learner retention is compromised,” Gathungu said in her report dated February 2026.

The audit report has also stated that the board has not adopted an efficient mode of disbursement and the current use of cheques is not only uneconomical but also encounters challenges like loss, misplacement and errors, which hinder the timely crediting of beneficiary accounts.

She said this mode of disbursement also attracts additional costs for delivery and allowances for clerks, decreasing the funds available for bursary and scholarship.

Other issues that the audit has raised are that the board has not ensured adequate and consistent monitoring of the bursary programme.

“The board has failed to follow up with constituencies to ensure consistent reporting, which compromises the reliability of data that is submitted for national reporting. As such, the Board does not maintain a master list, and cannot confidently account for the bursary funds disbursed over the years,” Gathungu stated.

Similarly, she said a follow-up of beneficiaries in their respective learning institutions is inadequate, leading to a lack of accountability regarding whether beneficiaries genuinely exist and actually receive the funds.

She has also cited inadequate acknowledgement of bursary funds by learning institutions, further aggravating the lack of accountability.

To ensure that the constituency committees award bursaries based on applicants' socio-economic needs and vulnerability status, the auditor called on the NG-CDF board to explore the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) through investment in appropriate technology and initiatives to automate bursary and scholarship processes.

The auditor has also proposed that the board set bursary and scholarship award limits to eliminate inconsistencies in decision-making across constituencies, minimise instances of spreading the funds thinly and ensure alignment with the fee structures approved by the State Department for Basic Education.

The board has also been urged to develop guidelines on the allocation of bursary and scholarship funds to learners with special needs during the development of project proposals, and proactively enhance oversight over constituency committees to maintain adequate documentation of beneficiaries with special needs.

The auditor has proposed that the board, in collaboration with the National Assembly, should enforce the provisions of the legal framework that grant it the authority over the Fund, to ensure its independent operations and prevent political interference in the administration of the Fund.

The report had revealed anomalies, which led to unsupported disbursements, with 86 constituencies unable to support their expenditure.

Gathungu has said that the 86 constituencies cannot support disbursements of Sh2.1 billion, an amount which would have covered hundreds more needy learners, and stated that such audit queries raise concerns about accountability and transparency in the management of bursary funds.

She said that the audit was authorised following concerns raised by Members of Parliament regarding the provision of public bursaries in the country, which included delays in the disbursement of funds to constituencies, leading to subsequent delays in the disbursement to learning institutions.

She said questions of inefficiencies in the administration of bursaries and scholarships have also been raised, with preliminary results of the pre-study highlighting performance issues in the administration of bursaries and scholarships, including a flawed bursary and scholarship vetting process.

Gathungu also said that inefficiencies in the mode of bursary disbursements, poorly maintained bursary and scholarship records and lack of monitoring of the bursary programme have been raised.

“Media reports have amplified cases of learners missing school due to a lack of fees and the perceived inequalities in the award of bursaries and scholarships. Despite multiple education funding mechanisms, many eligible learners continue to be left out as a result of delays, inconsistencies, and weak accountability in the allocation process,” she said.

The audit sampled 23 constituencies across six counties, namely Nairobi, Kirinyaga, Makueni, Kilifi, Kisii, and Narok.

The audit established that some constituencies processed bursary applications manually, which limited access to application forms to students studying outside their home constituencies, those living far from constituency offices, and persons with disabilities (PWDs) who could not easily obtain or submit physical application forms.

This, she said, undermined fairness, transparency, and equal opportunity as eligible applicants may have been excluded.

The auditor has also flagged cases of bursary awards to all applicants from the same learning institutions, stating that some constituencies awarded bursaries to nearly all applicants from the same learning institutions, without evidence that the education bursary committee evaluated the applicants' financial needs.

Gathungu revealed that some constituencies did not vet applicants for scholarships; the awards were based on referrals or unsystematic walk-in requests, rather than through a transparent and structured vetting process.

Additionally, there was inadequate monitoring of scholarship recipients to ensure continuity and academic performance, despite investing huge amounts of funds in the programme.

Other cases that the auditor raised included multiple awards, where cases of duplication of awards within the constituencies were raised.