Two separate court orders have thrown the Controller of Budget (CoB) and Kenya’s 47 county governments into confusion over the disbursement of bursaries.

On February 3, Judge Samwel Mohochi issued five orders. Two of the orders temporary restrained CoB Margaret Nyakang’o from withdrawing or retracting her circular of January 14, 2025. The circular restrained county governments from issuing bursaries to institutions beyond their jurisdiction as per the law, including primary, secondary, universities and special schools.

Another order barred the CoB from authorising any county requisitions for expenditure on bursaries and other education support programs to the mentioned institutions, not accompanied by requisite inter-governmental transfer agreements.

“The CoB is barred from implementing any agreement reached with the Council of Governors during the 26th Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council if it goes against the circular,” ruled Mohochi.

The last order in the petition filed by Katiba Institute and Nakuru activist Laban Omusundi, temporarily stopped Murang’a and Nakuru counties from issuing new bursaries to new beneficiaries.

On April 8, the court clarified two of the orders but remained silent on the other three.

One of the clarification the court made was that the two counties would be allowed to issue bursaries for the 2024/2025 financial year.

However, in a Certificate of Urgency filed on April 30, the CoB stated that the partial clarification has introduced a state of interpretative conflict on bursaries. On one hand, the CoB noted that the order stopped any bursary issuance but on the other, the same allows the two counties to issue bursaries.

“The partial clarification has created conflict on whether or not bursary disbursements and approvals can proceed in accordance with the circular, thereby posing legal, institutional, and financial uncertainty,” the CoB submitted through her lawyer Abigael Rasugu.

:The CoB seeks guidance and clarification of all the orders the court issued to ensure she does not act in a manner that may be misinterpreted as breach of court orders. The need for the urgent judicial clarification is also necessitated by the ongoing budget execution cycle,” she deposed.

The CoB wants the court to not only clarify the orders, but to reconcile the two clarified orders with the three unclarified ones.

Further, she wants that pending the clarification, the implementation of the orders allowing the two counties to continue issuing bursaries should be temporarily suspended. “The two orders should be stayed to the extent that they conflict with the three other orders issued and create legal uncertainty,” submitted Nyakang’o.

This comes two days after Murang’a county filed an application to have Nyakang’o jailed for six months for allegedly disobeying court orders on bursary issuance. Through its Lawyer Ngonyo Munyua, the county claimed that Nyakang’o has refused to approve the budget for the current financial year as the two courts orders.

In the main petition, Katiba Institute and Omusundi want the 47 counties stopped from carrying out the mandate of the national government in bursary issuance. They sued Murang’a and Nakuru counties, the COB Nyakang’o, CSs Treasury and Education, National Assembly, the Senate, and the Attorney General.