Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe has been summoned by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) for allegedly uttering threatening, inciting and abusive remarks.
Kagombe, who has been summoned to appear before NCIC offices tomorrow, May 18, 2023, from 11 am is being investigated for remarks he allegedly made at Gatundu Stadium during a bursary cheques issuance event.
In a letter by the commission’s CEO Harrison Kariuki, Kagombe is being investigated for reportedly inciting Kiambu residents against their North Eastern counterparts in allocation of national resources, contrary to Section 13 (1) (a) of the National Cohesion and Integration Act.
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Kagombe is accused of warning his counterparts from low-populated counties to begin construction of schools in their regions before they start lobbying for the abolition of the quota system that he claimed has been disadvantageous to learners from Kiambu county.
“You are hereby required to appear before the commission at the offices at Britam Towers 18th Floor Upper Hill on Thursday, May 18 so as to assist the commission with the aforementioned ongoing further investigations,” the letter by Kariuki reads in part.
The education policy which was introduced in the yesteryears stipulates that provincial, now extra-county schools should admit 85 per cent of their students from their localities.
As he pushed for a fairer distribution of resources based on population through the one-man, one-vote, one-shilling formula, the MP regretted that the quota system has over the years seen counties such as Kiambu teach learners from regions whose leaders have completely failed to put up education infrastructure.
“They have not been building schools or classes because they already have Kiambu to take their children. Our bursary is strained because we have a huge population, because we are putting up classes and because our learners get very little. There must be parity in distribution of national resources. If there is no such, there cannot be parity in distribution of votes. When we go back to parliament, we will demand to have learners’ schools from their respective counties,” Kagombe said.
“If you are there and you have not built schools, make arrangements on how you will study even if it means studying under a tree. It cannot be that our children cannot be admitted in schools built by their parents and leaders while those whose leaders don’t build classrooms get all the opportunities, we will not joke about this issue. We are making an early warning,” he added.
Instead of building learning institutions, Kagombe noted with concern that leaders from Arid and Semi-arid lands (ASAL) regions usually squander the public funds and, in most cases, channel the money to the construction of apartments in Nairobi.
This, he insisted, has seen leaders from highly populated counties strain to construct classrooms and issue education bursaries to the impoverished, stressing the need for parity in the distribution of national resources based on population factor.
Gatundu South bursary
Kagombe, who spoke while issuing Ksh41 million worth of bursary cheques to over 5,000 beneficiaries, maintained that since it is the locals who built the schools, it is only fair that their children benefit from their toil.
While lamenting that ASAL counties receive equalization, ASAL and CDF funds, the MP noted that their leaders had failed to execute projects for the benefit of their people and as a result, their constituents have been going for services such as education in other counties.
The quota system was introduced with the aim of ensuring that children born, bred and educated in local schools and post-primary institutions experience the riches of social-cultural diversity besides enabling them to interact with each other and learn to tolerate and appreciate the differences in their cultures.
As a uniting pillar, education is also supposed to foster nationalism, patriotism and promote the social, economic, technological and industrial needs for national development, promote individuals’ development and fulfilment and promote sound moral and religious values.
Following the summons, his constituents elicited mixed reactions with some urging the commission to stop harassing the MP while others maintained that Kagombe’s remarks deserve to be investigated.
