It was an error – Bungoma governor states why needy pupil who scored 401 marks in KCPE didn’t get a scholarship
Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati has spoken after the plight of a bright and needy pupil from his county went viral.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday evening, Wangamati apologised over the removal of Diana Nyokabi's name from the county’s scholarship programme, claiming that his team was misled to believe that Nyokabi's family was well-to-do.
"Our scholarship programme has a very vigorous vetting process that is done by a vetting team that visits every home to verify if the beneficiaries are deserving of the bursaries. My team visited Diana and her mother Priscilla Nyanchera at their home and after vetting her she was placed to be a beneficiary of the programme," the governor explained.
Diana scored 401 marks in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam which she sat for at Bungoma D.E.B Primary School and was set to join Moi Girls High School, Eldoret.
Diana's case has attracted the attention of many Kenyans, with Lamu Governor Fahim Twaha paying her full year’s school fees.
Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka and nominated Senator Millicent Omanga alongside Brookside Company and scores of Kenyans offered to help in educating Diana.
Wangamati termed Diana's missing of a scholarship from the county as an error which he said has since been rectified.
In his statement, the Governor said that after vetting students in need of scholarships, an official whose identity he failed to reveal, informed the team that Diana's mother was a landlady and her daughter did not deserve to get the scholarship.
However, Diana's mother, Priscila Nyanchera, said the story of her owning houses is a rumour revealing that she is struggling to pay Ksh3,000 monthly rent.
“After discovering that my vetting team was duped to believe that Diana Nyaboke is not needy, we did our investigations and its true she deserves a scholarship and we have enrolled her back to it,” Wangamati said..
