18 students from Kajiado West enter Elimu Scholarship plan

By Obegi Malack

The Ministry of Education (MoE), through Elimu Scholarship Programme and Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF), has awarded scholarships to needy secondary school students from Kajiado West Sub-county.

The scholarship will benefit 18 students from an applicant list of 123, who will be divided in half between JKF and Equity Bank.

Elimu Scholarship Programme is run by the Government of Kenya (GoK) and World Bank in partnership with Equity Bank. It caters for tuition fees, transport, school kit and pocket money for the four-year education period, mainly targeting needy and vulnerable learners in public schools.

Others who are also considered are orphans and those with special needs.

Ngong Equity Bank Credit Manager Benjamin Olukoye challenged the students to perform and give back to the community, informing them that the sponsors will not allow under-performance, and that the students should be role models.

The students will also benefit from mentorship from outstanding role models.

JKF sales representative Millicent

Olela said the programme was started to ensure needy children get an opportunity to get an education and also be able to give back to the community.

The programme improves access to education and transition and was founded in 1968. Over 10,000 students have benefitted since its inception.

Kajiado West Deputy County Commissioner Moranga Morekwa said the beneficiaries selected for the 2023 cohort were deserving cases and their entry into the programme was based on solid, verifiable and objective criteria.

He said the community should educate children and do away with Female General Mutilation (FGM) and early marriage, which are archaic.

Kajiado West Education Officer Philip Leruso said most students who ey said the Land Registry was closed for about five months for renovation and reorganization in efforts to address customer concerns about the quality of service at the registry. benefit forget the challenges they used to face, promising that his office will track their performance.

The DCI had arrested four lands officials accused of fraudulent transfer of title deeds, receiving bribes and for missing green cards.

Karoney said the closure was necessary to ensure that the corruption claims were fully investigated and measures put in place to prevent re-occurrence.

The ministry renovated the offices and brought in new officers as some of the incumbents were facing corruption charges in court.

Kajiado County Lands executive Hamilton Perseina had said the cartels were using the office of the Deputy County Commissioner to grab land from rightful owners. They had also set base in a building behind the Ngong lands offices and a toilet to plan their heinous activities.

Kajiado West Elimu branch champion Hellen Njuguna said the 18 applicants were the most deserving.

Face-to-face interviews and home visits were done before awarding the scholarships to the most deserving scholars.

FGM and early marriage survivor and activist Nancy Milanoi (OGW) said one of the beneficiaries was an FGM survivor, beseeching the community to bury the dangerous cultural practice.

One of the students who benefited was Simpiri Saiko who scored 388 marks in Olgumi Primary School. He joins Nairobi school and aspires to study medicine at the university.

Scholarship programmes in the country such as Elimu Scholarship and Wings to Fly continue to provide opportunities for equitable access to education in the country, complementing the government’s effort at 100 per cent transition to secondary school as well.