In a heartwarming initiative aimed at supporting higher education for vulnerable families, 118 university students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Murang’a County have been awarded scholarships. The scholarship programme comes at a crucial time as confusion surrounds Kenya’s new university funding model, leaving many students uncertain about their future.
The initiative, spearheaded by Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata, is designed to alleviate the financial burden of higher education for vulnerable families in the county. It targets orphans, persons with disabilities, and students from families facing extreme economic hardship. The programme requires the beneficiaries to be Murang’a residents and have secured admission into a local public university for a degree course.
During the award ceremony at Mumbi Grounds, where the scholarships were issued, Governor Kang’ata expressed hope that this initiative would enable the students to complete their education without financial interruptions. He urged the beneficiaries to remain focused on their studies and seize volunteer opportunities during school holidays to gain experience in their respective fields.
“My plea is to the beneficiaries to work hard and look for volunteer opportunities related to their career paths so they can acquire experience, especially during holidays,” Kang’ata advised. He also took the opportunity to call upon the national government to address the confusion surrounding the new university funding model, stating that it was “painful to see bright students from poor backgrounds unable to pursue university education due to financial constraints.”
A Collaborative Effort to Transform Lives
The scholarship programme is a collaborative effort between the Murang’a County government and professionals under the Murang’a Budget and Economic Council. These professionals contributed personal donations to the fund, demonstrating a community-based approach to resolving educational challenges. One of the key contributors to the programme was Kakuzi Limited, a local fruit-processing company, which donated KSh 2 million to the initiative.
Kakuzi’s head of corporate affairs, Simon Odhiambo, announced that the company would also offer 20 fully paid leadership development internships to pre-university students from the county starting next year. These internships will cover fields such as finance, legal, agronomy, agricultural engineering, human resource management, and marketing. Odhiambo said this move was intended to prepare the best students for job opportunities while equipping them with critical skills before their university studies.
Equity Bank founder Peter Munga, who chairs the Murang’a Budget and Economic Council, underscored the importance of education in transforming society. He reminded the audience of Murang’a’s rich history in education, mentioning Dr. Gikonyo Kiano, the first university graduate from the area, whose studies at Stanford University were funded by local community contributions. Munga added that the council had approached multinational companies to secure further support for the scholarship programme as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments.
“This is one of the main ways we can support vulnerable families. We all know the set of challenges they go through,” Munga stated, emphasizing the significance of collective effort in addressing educational barriers for the underprivileged.
Overcoming Adversity: Simon Irungu’s Moving Story
One of the most poignant moments of the day came when Simon Irungu, one of the scholarship recipients, shared his story. An orphan, Irungu lost his mother when he was two and his father when he was eleven. Raised by his grandparents, who struggled to afford his school fees, Irungu’s journey has been fraught with financial difficulties. Despite these hardships, he managed to score a B plain in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams and secured a spot at Murang’a University of Technology to pursue IT engineering.
However, his joy was short-lived, as he could not afford the accommodation fee or pocket money required to attend university. Irungu tearfully recounted how he had to return home and struggled even to raise the bus fare to attend the scholarship award ceremony, relying on help from neighbors.
His story moved many in the audience to tears, highlighting the challenges faced by bright students from low-income families and the life-changing impact of such scholarships.
Looking Ahead: Calls for Government Action
Governor Kang’ata, while celebrating the success of the scholarship programme, called on the national government to streamline the university funding model to ensure more students from poor backgrounds have access to higher education. He expressed optimism that these scholarships would empower the youth to positively impact society, stressing the role education plays in breaking the cycle of poverty.
In total, the Murang’a county government and its partners disbursed KSh 52 million in bursaries and scholarships, benefiting over 4,500 learners. As Murang’a County leads by example, the hope is that other counties and the national government will take similar steps to ensure every Kenyan child, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to pursue higher education.
