UDA MP Says Ndindi Nyoro Has Made Other MPs Seem Incompetent: “Ametuweka Kwa Shida”

• Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria admitted facing pressure from his constituents to match Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro’s move to slash school fees to KSh 500 per term
• He questioned the source of Nyoro’s funding, linking it to his former role as chair of the budget committee and suggesting he may have diverted extra resources to his constituency
• Gikaria vowed to raise the matter in Parliament to determine if the programme is feasible nationwide, noting that NG-CDF alone cannot fully cover such costs

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria has acknowledged having a difficult time with his constituents owing to the performance of Kiharu MP David Gikaria.

He suggested his constituents have been pressuring him to deliver like Nyoro, who recently sanctioned the concession of fees in public schools in his Kiharu.

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How Ndindi Nyoro caused trouble to colleague MPs

Gikaria lamented that with Nyoro’s publicised programme, other MPs now appear to be misappropriating monies.

“Ndindi Nyoro has put us in trouble. He said students would pay KSh 500 only per term. You are left wondering how he did it, yet we are all MPs. I can’t speak in my constituency. He has left us in trouble. You can’t speak anywhere because people think you are stealing the money because they wonder how he implemented the fee reduction,” he said.

However, Gikaria seemed to question the source of funds used by Nyoro.

He linked the programme to Nyoro’s tenure in the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee, where he served as the chairman, suggesting the MP left the committee after favouring his constituency.

Why David Gikaria questioned Ndindi Nyoro’s programme

According to Gikaria, Nyoro, in his time in the committee, might have hived off at least KSh 100 million to his constituency and used the amount to build classrooms, and then used the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) to undertake the fee reduction programme.

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The Nakuru East MP suggested Nyoro had two kitties, unlike other MPs; one self-allocated while chairing the budget committee, and the NG-CDF, which every constituency gets.

“We are going to parliament, and we will want to be told if indeed what is happening in Kiharu is true so that we can implement it in our constituencies. He was the chairman of the budget committee, and that is where everyone prioritised their constituency. If he could take KSh 100 million through the ministry to build schools, he has not touched CDF,” Gikaria said.

He said he would seek to find out whether the programme is doable with the funds all constituencies get.

The MP noted that CDF alone is not enough to fully cover each learner’s fees in a constituency, stating that it has a wide scope of needs that it ought to cater for, including bursaries for learners in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, and infrastructure across schools.

“When we get back in parliament, we will genuinely ask if indeed a learner can pay KSh 500, and if they learn without challenges, then it should be replicated everywhere,” Gikaria said.

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Inside Ndindi Nyoro’s fees subsidy programme

On January 13, the Kiharu MP unveiled a free education initiative set to benefit 12,000 learners in the constituency.

As part of the plan, students in day secondary schools will contribute only KSh 500 per term.

The programme also guarantees daily school lunches, with chapati served on the final Friday of each month.

Nyoro announced that KSh 50 million has been allocated for infrastructure upgrades, particularly laboratories and computer facilities.

He further stated that all Grade 10 entrants in 20 low-enrolment schools, as well as newly established institutions, will receive free uniforms.

Besides the fees subsidies and lunch programmes, Nyoro courted fame with the upgrading of schools across Kiharu, putting up ultra-modern infrastructure and with cabro-paved environments.

Last March, while quitting the budget committee, his colleagues in the National Assembly accused him of favouring Kiharu in budget allocations and leaving the most-deserving constituencies with meagre resources.

Source: TUKO.co.ke