President William Ruto has announced the move to devolve bursary allocation and distribution, indicating several issues that have hindered the disbursement of funds to the county governments.  

Speaking at the State House during the UDA National Governing Council meeting on Monday, January 26, 2026, the President has said that the national government have had consultations with the Controller of Budget and other stakeholders on the management of bursaries.

“We have resolved the matter. The process of bursaries will now be actualised since the agreement between the national government and county governments has been concluded. We have resolved that now the process of bursaries be actualised as the agreement between the national and county government has been concluded,” Ruto said.

Ruto observed that although bursary disbursement is a mandate of the national government, an agreement with county governments was vital to ensure effective rollout at the grassroots level.

In addition, the head of state noted that the national government has finalised agreements with all county administrations, and this is the reason that will allow the Controller of Budget to disburse funds to counties for the bursary programme.

This move was aimed at ensuring no child was locked out due to a lack of school fees, reinstating the government’s commitment to keeping learners in school.

Ruto’s remarks have come after a directive to the Ministry of Education to collaborate with the Council of Governors to create a framework to resolve disputes that prevented county governments from issuing bursaries for secondary schools and higher institutions of learning.

The Controller of Budget had earlier maintained that the issuance of bursaries for tertiary institutions was a function of the national government, not the counties. This move has led to disputes with the counties, which have constantly demanded the right to distribute the funds to learners.

However, President Ruto have shed light for counties to issue bursaries by assenting to the County Allocation of Revenue Act of 2025, which increased the equitable share for counties to KSh 415 billion, funds that were intended to allow counties to design and implement local programs that included bursaries.

With this announcement, Counties will now wait for the Controller of Budget to approve before beginning to disburse funds to learners.