The Ganze Ward Office

Friday 20th June, 2014. “Yes what about it?” One may ask. Well, that’s what this article is all about. It is the day I paid my first visit to the Ganze Ward office.

You may be surprised why I had never been there before, considering the fact that the occupant of that office has been in power for quite some time, following the March 4th 2013 general elections. Although still under training, as a journalist, I have tried as much as possible not to be friends with any of my leaders. This, according to my thinking, will pose no dilemma when one day I have to report issues concerning them, both good and evil.

I come from Kilifi, a county that is headed by Governor Hon. Amason Kingi, together with Senetor Hon. Stewart Madzayo and Hon. Peter Safari Shehe, the Member of Parliament representing Ganze constituency where I live in. All these are people I have never met. Then there is Hon. Japhet Nzaro, the Member of County Assembly (MCA), Ganze Ward Representative, whose office I at least visited the other day.

The aim of my visit was quite simple. I had submitted my scholarship bursary application form a couple of months ago and had just gone to collect my cheque. To my surprise, there was no cheque for me. I only found my name on a piece of paper, plus the amount awarded. It was in a list of beneficiaries both in secondary schools and higher learning institutions such as universities, colleges and polytechnics. The allocation had already been done but no single cheque had been written.

Mr. Jackson Mangi, the scholarship manager was the one answerable on behalf of the MCA who was absent by then. According to him, the Ganze Ward scholarship account was out of funds. Some money amounting to Ksh. 4.2 million from the county had not yet been released but had already been budgeted for. This was the reason for the unavailability of cheques corresponding to application forms submitted as early as February. Please do not get confused. Ganze ward does not have a separate bursary office; the MCA’s office serves perfectly.

That was the last Friday of my holiday. I was supposed to report back to campus the following Monday, 23rd June, but not without the cheque. I explained this to Jackson and he agreed to write an official letter of commitment to my campus, explaining that I had been allocated a few thousands but due to the delay, the cheque shall arrive at a later date. It worked. I am now in school and was allowed to attend all lectures until July 11th when the payment must have been done. Whatever will happen afterwards in case the payment delays further is still unknown to me.

Now, the letter was handwritten because the office of the honourable does not have typing facilities. The scholarship manager lacks a computer and so does his secretary. In fact from their appearance, I tend to think that none of them has the skills to operate computers. Everything is done manually and this, I believe, has been the cause of all unnecessary delays that my fellow citizens have always complained about. Whenever the committee encounters a task that cannot be done manually, there is a cyber café close to the office where services like typing, photocopying, scanning, etc are offered at a fee. Is it not surprising how that office operates without such basic facilities in this digital era?

As I was going through the list of beneficiaries for the ward bursary funds, I came across some funny trends. Schools around Ganze shopping center where the office is located got the lion’s share. Ganze Boys Secondary had a total of 38 students allocated Ksh. 7000 each while their female counterparts, Ganze Girls had 34. There were 40 names from Godoma Secondary, while Magogoni had 33. On the other hand, it was pathetic for schools slightly away from the office though still within Ganze Ward. Sokoke Boys had 18 beneficiaries while Ngerenya Mixed Jilore and Dungicha could only contribute one student each. Why the huge difference? Is it due to unawareness, favour or just by chance? I really don’t know.

The road connecting my home and the office is tar-marked. Unfortunately, its condition is no longer pleasant. On my return journey, the vehicle I bordered was almost involved in a serious accident. After a little rain, the road became excessively slippery, causing our vehicle to slide towards one side where pedestrians were. It was just due to the grace of the lord that the driver regained control without hurting anyone. Surprisingly, my leaders have never realized that and if they have, then they are either pleased with its condition or still busy with other theoretical ghost projects.