Eric Wamumbi, the Member of Parliament for Mathira Constituency.
In 2023, Mathira Member of Parliament Eric Wamumbi launched a programme that was supposed to subsidise school fees for students in all day schools in the constituency.
Had everything gone according to plan, each of the 14,000 learners in 30 schools would pay Sh1,000 instead of Sh7,000 currently being paid per term.
Initially, the programme was allocated Sh30 million which was to be increased progressively.
However, the plan has come a cropper, with school principals saying they are yet to receive a single shilling from the much touted programme.
Some of the schools had allowed students to continue with their tuition in the hope that disbursement of the money would be done as promised. But more than a year on, not a single shilling has hit their bank accounts.
School principals who talked to Nation.Africa on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation said the institutions have been struggling to maintain learners and have now given up.
"Students have up to the end of this week to clear all fee arrears amounting to Sh21,000 per student or they will be sent home. We have not received any money from the alleged programme and it is no longer tenable to keep them in school,” said one of the affected principals.
The principals however said some parents had paid fees after the programme failed.
"Of the 14,000 students, at least 7,000 of them are owed the Sh21,000 each," said another teacher.
Parents are now up in arms accusing the legislator of not keeping his promise after schools started issuing notices to send their children home over fees arrears.
Mr Wamumbi on his part claims some Sh30 million that was meant to fund the programme was "diverted" to other projects by officials of the local NG-CDF, adding that his office is in the process of allocating funds in the 2025-2026 budget to ensure the programme dubbed "Masomo kwa wote" (education for all) succeeds.
The launch ceremony in August 2023 was marked with pomp and colour at Karatina stadium and was attended by hundreds of students and parents, and graced by several musicians.
Students in mixed-day and boarding schools were lined up to benefit from the programme.
In addition, it was announced that the programme would cater for improved school food menu in the constituency, where students would have three days of githeri and three days of rice.
Also included in the programme was the introduction of meals on Saturdays for all learners.
The meals, according to the MP, were to include tea or porridge at 10am and lunch as a way to optimise on time for learning.
Further, the Mathira NG-CDF allocated cash for infrastructural development in all day schools in the constituency.
Talking to the Nation, Mr Wamumbi' however said the envisaged programme had faced some challenges after some NG-CDF officials diverted the money to other projects without his authority, adding that the said officials have since been suspended.
"I assure the parents that the programme is still on and we are setting aside money for it this financial year," he said.
The controversy took a fresh twist Thursday when suspended CDF chairman Barnabas Mpekethi said the programme was the major source of friction between him and the MP because he advised him it required proper planning to avoid audit issues.
“Before he made the announcement, we had several sittings and I advised him that the programme cannot be implemented in a haphazard manner. I pointed out that these are public funds that require proper planning to avoid any pitfalls but he refused to accommodate my views,” he said.
The chairman said he was suspended illegally for declining to sign some cheques that were questionable.
Bishop Barnabas insisted that he was still the bonafide chairman of the CDF committee since the position has not been degazeted as the law stipulates.
The affected parents now say the MP should have put his house in order before making the announcement.
"This is an unfortunate development, we were called for a meeting last week and school authorities informed us that we are required to pay fee arrears for three terms. We were taken aback because all along we thought the MP had paid the school fees as promised" said Eunice Wangari, a parent.
"It is unfortunate because it appears we celebrated too early. We thought the programme could ease our school fees burden give the hard economic times being experienced in the country but now we will be forced to dig into our pockets," said Patrick Muriuki, another parent.
