Jomo Kenyatta Foundation holds annual scholarships award ceremony

During the event which was officiated by the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Education Dr. Sara Ruto the successful applicants were presented with their cheques. 

Dr. Ruto lauded the Foundation for steadfastly supporting the education of well over 11,000 bright but needy and vulnerable students. drawn from across the country for a period spanning 54 years. 

She said plans by the Ministry to make JKF the regulator of scholarships in Kenya was something that needed to be prioritised and fast-tracked, given the vast experience as well as strategic positioning the Company enjoys as the only Government entity providing basic education scholarships. 

In his address. Managing Director Mr. David K. Mwaniki observed that the Ministry's initiative to give JKF the scholarship regulation mandate could not have come at a better time. 

He noted that due to the current harsh economic times precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, JKF received well over 11,000 applications a fourfold increase from the previous years. 

Out of this large number, JKF could only absorb 148 students owing to the diminished profits made from sales of its publications from which the revenue expended on scholarship provision is derived.

 "This has been necessitated by the recent shift in the publishing industry whereby to win government tenders for the supply of course books under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) publishers have no choice but to price their books with fairly moderate margins," Mr. Mwaniki said.

 This notwithstanding has spurred JKF to seek partnerships with likeminded organizations and JKF staff to ensure that they offer scholarships to more students.  

Those present at the event included members of the JKF Board of Directors, successful scholarship avvardees, their parents and teachers, continuing and former scholarship beneficiaries as well as scholarship partners and the JKF staff