Beneficiaries of bursary funds in Nairobi County will have to wait longer to access their fees following a stalemate between the Controller of Budget (COB) and City Hall.
A meeting between officials from the office of the Controller of Budget, County Finance Department and the Budget Committee on Wednesday failed to make headway.
Officers from the COB had been summoned to appear before the committee to shed light on why Sh400 million funds had not been released to MCAs.
They said the delay was because City Hall could not account for a previous Sh90 million of the Sh357 million issued in bursary funds last year.
“Our hands are tied and unless the Sh90 million is accounted for then we cannot release this year’s funds,” said Fariyah Ibrahim, an officer from COB.
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Ms Ibrahim said the COB engaged the county, urging the education and finance department to produce quarterly reports on how the previous funds were used to no avail.
Finance CEC Charles Kerich blamed Education Director Ruth Owuor for not preparing the documents arguing that his department was simply charged with aiding the process.
Ms Owuor hit back saying she had unsuccessfully sought for correspondence from the finance department.
Budget Committee chair Robert Mbatia directed finance department issue the documentation on the expenditure to COB to fast track the issuance of bursaries.
