Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has flagged five constituencies for sitting on cheques worth Sh722.64 million that would have helped needy learners pursue their education through the government bursary and scholarship program.
The unpresented cheques, according to the 2026 performance audit on the provision of bursaries and scholarships by the National Government- Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) board to learning institutions for the fiscal period 2024/25, may have led to the affected learners dropping out of school.
From the audit’s revelations, assuming school fees of Sh40,000 per year in public schools, Sh722.64 would have benefited about 18,065 students in extra county schools on full scholarship.
“The failure to present the cheques to the banks and the resultant stale cheques resulted in loss of learning time by beneficiaries, as learners were sent home for school fees, despite having been awarded the bursaries,” the audit says.
The five constituencies that failed to present the cheques to learners are Narok West, with Sh218.79 million, and represented by Mr Gabriel Tongoyo, who chairs the Administration and Internal Security Committee in the National Assembly.
Parents and guardians queue to apply for bursaries for their children from the Nyeri Town NGCDF at Whispers Park in Nyeri Town on July 30, 2024.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
The others include Mr Joshua Kimilu’s Kaiti Sh201.63 million, Julius Sunkuli’s Kilgoris Sh138 million, Gichugu of Gichimu Githinji with Sh86.44 million, and Ganze of Kenneth Kazungu with Sh77.82 million worth of unrepresented cheques.
The stale cheques arising from their unrepresentation to learning institutions and subsequently to banks would have been avoided “if the affected constituency committees disbursed the funds directly to institutions through the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).”
“Consequently, this limited the retention of learners in school, undermining the very objective of awarding bursaries,” the audit says, adding, “learners would be sent home for school fees, thereby negatively affecting their learning and limiting their attendance at school.”
In addition, a review of bank reconciliation statements and constituency committee minutes identified additional cases of stale cheques worth Sh14.2 million meant for learners, reported across various years, as needy learners continue to be deprived of educational opportunities.
The amount, which puts the affected constituencies in a tight spot, is enough to sponsor about 351 learners in extra-county schools for one academic year at a cost of Sh40,000 per year.
The notorious constituencies in the stale cheques scandal are Embakasi Central of Benjamin Gathiru (2024), with stale cheques valued at Sh4.4 million affecting 108 learners, and Embakasi South of Julius Mawathe (2025) with Sh3.6 million worth of stale cheques enough to sponsor 89 learners per year.
The others are Mwea of Ms Mary Maingi (2021) with Sh2.8 million in stale cheques that would have benefited 68 learners, and Kasarani constituency of Mr Ronald Karauri reported in 2023 with stale cheques worth Sh2.5 million, enough to support 62 needy learners.
Kibwezi East constituency of Ms Jessica Mbalu was also cited during the 2023 audit period with stale cheques valued at Sh980,000, enough for 24 learners in an academic year.
The audit also decried the lack of guidelines for the selection of beneficiaries of reissued stale cheques, as the uncollected and unpresented cheques were reversed after six months and reissued to other learners.
“This was delayed service delivery, and there were no guidelines to govern the selection of beneficiaries for the reissued cheques, giving constituency committees full discretion to decide which learners to support,” the audit notes.
For instance, a review of bursary committee minutes in Mwea and Embakasi South constituencies revealed that stale cheques were reissued to learners “based on verbal requests made to the NG-CDF offices, without supporting application forms or vetting of applicants' need or vulnerability.”
Of the sampled constituencies, Kasarani constituency bursary committee minutes had a documented vetting process for reissued stale cheques.
“Interviews with constituency committees established that cheques were the preferred mode of disbursement,” the audit says, adding, “the mode created an avenue for publicity for area MPs during public award ceremonies.”
This, as the audit put the NG-CDF board on the defense for failing to enforce compliance with the bursary disbursement guidelines, “which restricted issuance of cheques directly to the beneficiaries.”
Parents and students returning bursary forms.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“Due to the absence of enforcement measures and sanctions, constituencies continued issuing cheques directly to beneficiaries, contrary to the prescribed guidelines, reducing bursaries to political giftings,” says the audit.
The audit notes that the constituency committees attributed the cases of stale cheques to misplacement or loss by beneficiaries or their guardians.
However, the audit notes that the constituency committees did not create awareness among the beneficiaries about the validity period of cheques and the effect of their late presentation to banks.
The constituency committees also reported that the process of writing a large number of cheques was time-consuming and required hiring additional casual clerks.
This resulted in additional staff costs and bank charges, arising from rejected cheques by banks due to errors in drawn cheques.
As a review of records revealed that even though the constituencies kept cheque collection registers indicating the cheque number, payee, and name of the person collecting, “the registers were not up to date.”
“The registers had gaps where signatures of persons collecting the cheques were missing, indicating that collection of some cheques was not duly acknowledged by the beneficiaries.”
The audit reveals that incomplete cheque registers led to a lack of accountability as constituency fund account managers “could not account for beneficiary cheques that were not signed for.”
“Consequently, the committees were unable to fully account for funds disbursed to learning institutions, limiting their ability to demonstrate that the funds reached the intended institutions and beneficiaries at the appropriate time,” says the audit.
In view of this, the audit noted that “there was a risk of misapplication of funds for unintended beneficiaries in the same learning institution.”
