24 women, youth and People Living with Disability (PWDs) groups in Isiolo County have benefited from a Ksh2.4 million economic empowerment programme under the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) kitty.
The groups drawn from across the 10 wards in the county received cheques of between Ksh100,000 and Ksh130,000 through the office of the county Woman Representative Mumina Bonaya.
Mumina cautioned the beneficiaries against misappropriating the funds, saying they were meant to help them boost existing income generating activities or start new ones.
“The beneficiaries should ensure the money helps them generate more income and should not divert the funds towards unrelated causes,” she said.
Among the beneficiaries were Mfinyanzi Women Group, Sky Odha Women Group, Latu Disabled Group, Daya Women Group and Ngumi Women Group.
While lamenting over inadequate funds to finance the over 1,000 registered groups in the county, Mumina appealed to those who did not receive the funding to be patient promising that they would be considered in subsequent disbursements.
“My office gets very little funding by virtue of having only two constituencies. However I am keen to ensure the little we get is well utilized and makes a difference to the intended persons,” she said.
The County MP distanced herself from claims of favouritism in the selection of groups to benefit saying that she was keen on empowering Isiolo women and not rewarding her allies.
She revealed that her office was partnering with the county government to conduct harambees (fundraisers) for women groups across the county for economic empowerment.
“Before the end of my five-year term, we will do harambees for women groups across all wards, starting with Burat and Ngaremara wards,” she noted.
Further, 175 university and college students were issued with bursary cheques worth Ksh1.269 million, with each student receiving between Ksh5,000 and Ksh10,000 depending on their vulnerability.
Mumina urged residents to exercise honesty while applying for bursaries as they were meant to benefit the vulnerable and needy.
“If you are able to see your children through school, please leave the bursaries for those who cannot afford to pay school fees,” she appealed.
The lawmaker also urged parents to educate their children terming education as the only equalizer and a way of economic empowerment for the region where illiteracy has maintained high levels.
By John Majau
Get more stories from our website: Sacco Review.
For comments and clarifications, write to: Saccoreview@shrendpublishers.co.ke
Kindly follow our Facebook Page: Sacco Review Newspaper for timely updates.
