Vihiga Governor Dr. Wilber Ottichilo flagged off the 4th Cohort of students under the Governor’s Scholarship Program at the County headquarters.
Speaking during the flagging off ceremony, Governor Ottichilo said his government is committed to investing in education adding that Vihiga County is constrained by land, the only viable resource we have is education. The Governor’s Scholarship Program, in its fourth year since inception has seen more than 450 bright and needy students enrolled to the program.
This year’s scholarship program had over 700 applicants but due to budget constraints, only 100 were enrolled.
The Governor said moving forward his administration will boost the Scholarship kitty to cater for more needy cases in the County.
”In the next budget making process, we shall allocate more funds to this program so as to enable more needy students to get enrolled, ” said the Governor.
Chief Officer for Education Pamela Mahila said the Department did a thorough vetting exercise for the applicants.
“The process of vetting and awarding of the scholarship was done above board and we ensured deserving cases were selected,” said the Chief Officer.
Ian Lusiji, a beneficiary to the program could not hide his excitement for being enrolled in the program. Lusiji, a former pupil at Mago Primary scored 408 marks and has been selected to join Maseno School.
“I lost my father in 2017 and the future seemed dark, when I was taken to my father’s family I was rejected so I had to put up with my maternal grandmother,” said an emotional Lusiji.
Yvonne Butiko from Emuhaya Sub County was full of gratitude to the Governor for coming up with the program. The St. Cecilia Nangina Girls High School bound Yvonne promised to work hard and become a lawyer in order to help the vulnerable in the society.
