MP bows to pressure, releases DP Ruto’s Sh2m donation

Kitutu Masaba MP Shadrack Mose has bowed to pressure from locals to release Sh2 million given by Deputy President William Ruto to two schools in his constituency about two years ago.

Mose has been holding the cash since August 2018 when Ruto visited Nyamira County and handed the money to Ikonge primary and secondary schools in his area.

While handing the cash to Mr Mose, Ruto had instructed the MP to ensure he tops up the cash with the National Government Development Funds (NGCDF) to an amount that would enable their plan of migrating the primary school from a compound it shares with the secondary wing to an adjacent location.

Each of the two schools received a cheque of Sh1 million with an additional Sh1 million from NGCDF.

The MP said the Ikonge schools needed more than the DP's donation for the project and that he had to withhold to await the two schools' management committees to do a proposal over the CDF funding and utilisation of the combined cash from DP.

"The two management committees had to do a proposal to the NGCDF management for a top up on the DP's cash donation that would enable them do a bigger project," he explained to parents who turned up to witness the handing over of the cheques.

The MP also handed Sh70 million to about 60 schools for development as he embarked to prove his critics wrong.

Over the times, Mose has been under pressure, especially from his critics and fellow politicians to surrender the money, accusing him of impropriety of the DP's gift.

"It is sad that people politicized the money issue but I am glad that the parents had full trust that their money was safe and was meant for their good," Mose said in the meeting that he addressed at the schools grounds.