Kenya’s Chief Justice Advices Ruto To Provide Free Education Following University Funding Fiasco
On Thursday, Chief Justice Martha Koome challenged the government, led by President William Ruto, to consider consolidating all education funding and making tertiary education free.
The CJ stated that all funds allocated to Members of County Assemblies (MCAs), Members of Parliament (MPs), women representatives, and governors through their respective kitties can be combined into a single fund to finance a free education system.
Koome was speaking at the launch of the Strategic Guiding Framework for Greening Kenya’s Justice System and Disseminating Research Results.
MPs and MCAs disseminate funds through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), which is a duplication of roles that should be rolled into one kitty.
“Why won’t you put all the bursary together and make education free for all,” CJ Martha Koome faults new university funding model pic.twitter.com/fDSlwQenwB
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) August 22, 2024
“You find that there is a bursary fund allocated from the taxpayers’ money for the governor, women rep, the MPs and MCAs to help finance needy learners,” she pointed out.
“Now, all those bursaries on how they are disbursed, why don’t you put them in one fund and make education free for all?”
Koome claimed that the new university funding model promotes student inequality, which undermines our society’s progress.
She also criticized the model, citing its viability in placing students in bands they should be in.
“The child who has qualified to go to the university can be there crying because he has been put to band 5 when he ought to be in band 1 and therefore cannot afford to go to the university,” she lamented.
According to her, the new model only highlights how unjust society is.
As a result, the CJ revealed that she had stopped watching the news because of the depressing items that kept flashing up, reminding her of inequality and how unjust our society is.
“When you follow, you find a child of a well-to-do family has been put in band one while not needy,” she explained.
The CJ stated that the new funding model is confusing and should be reviewed to assist society’s most vulnerable members.
Kenya’s Chief Justice Advices Ruto To Provide Free Education Following University Funding Fiasco
