Taita Taveta County boss Granton Samboja has rejected a Sh85 million house grant allocated for the construction of his residence and that of his deputy.
The money was slotted in the proposed county budget of financial year 2018-2019 which starts on July 1.
The fund was to be divided in such a way that the governor would receive sh45 million for a posh home while Deputy Governor Majala Mlagui was to get the remainder sh40 million.
[caption caption="Taita Taveta Deputy Governor Majala Mlagui Giving her Inaugural Speech."]
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While rejecting the allocation, Samboja noted that the money would be channeled to fund projects that are of a higher priority.
“I have the county assembly that neither I currently don’t need a residential place. What I want is to see children get bursaries and scholarships to further their education,” he noted.
The governor further indicated that neither he nor his deputy should live in maisonettes while needy children were dropping out of schools due to the lack of fees.
Samboja also revealed that his administration had raised the bursary allocation from Sh50 million to Sh150 million to cater for the rising number of children in need of financial assistance.
According to a study done by Policy Tracking Impact Public Affairs Consulting, the county under Samboja was ranked the twentieth with a gradient performance of 61.6%.
The Ministry of Education Statistics have it that the county has 252 public primary schools with an enrollment of about 63,610 pupils.
Taita taveta also hosts 75 public secondary schools and one university and one technical institute.
The secondary schools have an enrollment of about 22,000 students.
The high rate of transition from primary to secondary schools means they are numerous parents under financial constraint swhich makes them dependent on the bursaries for fees.
[caption caption="Governor Grafton Samboja"]
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