High Court grants relief to counties after allowing disbursement of approved bursaries

A legal dispute that had left several counties unable to release bursaries has now been partly resolved after the High Court ruled that already approved bursary allocations can be disbursed.

This development comes as a major relief for governors who were struggling to support students in the current financial year.

The ruling follows confusion over a February court decision that suspended the Controller of Budget’s withdrawal of a circular barring bursary allocations outside county borders.

While the ruling was aimed at blocking fresh bursary approvals beyond counties, the Controller of Budget interpreted it as applying to the current financial year, halting already budgeted disbursements.

The issue was brought back to court by Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata, who sought clarification after the Controller of Budget refused to approve funds allocated in the counties’ current budgets.

Kang’ata said the controller’s interpretation had disrupted operations.

“This had crippled counties’ ability to support students under the current financial year," he said.

In response, Justice Samuel Mohochi clarified on Wednesday that the orders issued earlier only apply to bursaries planned for the 2025/26 financial year. He said there was no intention to interfere with already approved bursaries.

“For clarity and avoidance of doubt, this court hereby clarifies that the temporary conservatory orders issued by this court had the effect of only restraining the parties from processing, issuing, or approving fresh bursaries during the pendency of this petition,” he ruled.

Counties including Murang’a, Nakuru and Uasin Gishu had filed separate requests, urging the court to allow them to disburse the already budgeted funds.

The petition challenging the Controller of Budget’s move had been filed in February by activist Laban Omusundi and the Katiba Institute. They opposed the decision to relax a directive that had restricted cross-county bursary allocations.

Those listed in the petition include several government agencies and bodies involved in funding and oversight.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Henry Gichana, argued that the Controller lacked the authority to block the disbursement of approved funds and questioned the absence of a uniform national system for educational support.

With the court’s latest clarification, counties can now move forward with distributing bursaries already included in their budgets.

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