A view of Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu County on April 5, 2023
| Jared Nyataya | Nation Media GroupUasin Gishu
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Eldoret town: Home of scandals and fraudsters?
Eldoret town, the headquarters of Uasin Gishu County, commonly referred to as the home of champions, is fast becoming the home of fraudsters, judging by the numerous financial scandals in the region.
Scandals ranging from fake gold, property with forged title deeds, overseas education scams, ghost jobs and others are rocking the town.
Currently, the town is in the news for a notorious Qatar job scam orchestrated by First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy Agency, as well as Finland and Canada education scams - the brainchild of the local county administration.
The Qatar job scam, Finland and Canada education scams are just a few of the recent scams in the limelight.
For a long time, the county has seen several cases of fake gold scams, with celebrities suspected to be behind the scam. Currently, there are several ongoing court cases involving fake gold scams.
First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy Agency director Judy Jepchirchir during an interview on August 23, 2023, in Karen Nairobi.
One such case is where a senior retired police officer was cheated out of his title deeds through a fake gold scam.
Mr Charles Chepkonga Yano, 73, a retired senior police officer, is one of the victims of a fake gold scam in Eldoret town.
Mr Yano lost his title deeds to a young man who had promised to connect him with gold dealers. Mr Yano lost three title deeds to the man after the title deeds were allegedly used to secure a loan to be used as capital to venture into the gold trade.
The suspect in Mr Yano's case has since been arrested and the case will be heard on September 12.
Mr Yano's case is one of many in which suspects are said to be working in collusion with certain politicians in the region. The gold scam has not spared the powerful either.
A year ago, two men found guilty of dealing in fake gold were sentenced by an Eldoret court to 18 months in jail with an alternative fine of Sh100,000 each; Saleh Osage Madjebe alias Swale and Cornelius Kigen Kiprop alias Victor Kiprotich were also charged with a second count of obtaining Sh48,000 from an Eldoret trader, Mr Peter Kamaisi, by pretending to sell him genuine gold.
Currently, three people are facing similar charges of fake gold scam after they were accused of defrauding an MCA from Nandi County Assembly of Sh800,000 by pretending to be able to sell him Sh5 million worth of gold.
"Someone who claimed to know me very well called me and told me about the good deal she had and convinced me because she was speaking fluently in my mother tongue," said Mr Jack Kevolua, the Nandi MCA.
Mr Kevolua said the cartels use international dialling codes to convince their potential targets.
The majority of counterfeit gold dealers are men and women who live opulent lives with posh cars and can afford expensive lawyers to represent them.
In Eldoret town, such business is said to flourish in the Eastleigh area and most posh hotels.
Most of the suspects are said to be well-connected people who fall under the category of untouchables.
Apart from the gold scam, the town is also witnessing fake property dealers who are accused of forging title deeds of elderly and deceased people. Such cases are common in Moiben and Turbo sub-counties.
A prominent Eldoret property dealer, Thomas Kering, is currently on remand in Eldoret Prison on charges of forging title deeds and obtaining money by false pretences through property transactions.
Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and his two co-accused Joshua Lelei and Meshck Rono at the Nakuru law courts on August 17, 2023.
A judicial employee is also involved in a land dispute case where he is accused of forging a death certificate to disinherit a family in Ainabkoi Sub County.
Currently, Eldoret town and Uasin Gishu County as a whole are in the spotlight over the botched Finland and Canada scholarship where the county senator Jackson Mandago is facing charges of obtaining more than Sh1.1 billion in connection with the scandal.
Another case that has brought negative publicity to the town is that of First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy Agency in Qatar.
The director of the now infamous First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy Agency, Judy Chepchirchir, popularly known as the Untouchable, is accused of snubbing a Senate summons in connection with the scam.
Her agency is alleged to have defrauded several North Rift youths of millions of dollars through dubious promises of jobs abroad.
The company came under the spotlight late last year after it failed to fly over 1,000 job hopefuls to Qatar where they were promised short-term jobs during the World Cup.
In the aftermath of these events, residents of Eldoret town have expressed fears that scandals are likely to erupt should the town be upgraded to city status.
One of the victims of the Qatar jobs scandal, Ms Janet Koech, regretted that the county government is now focusing on a campaign to elevate Eldoret town to a city status as their claims for refunds are being neglected.
She said elevating the town to a city status will not benefit them but will only create opportunities for looters and fraudsters in Eldoret to continue with their fraudulent schemes.
Ms Koech said plans to upgrade Eldoret town to a city will not change the situation but make it worse as she called on the national government along with the Senate Committee on Devolution to stop plans to upgrade the town to a city.
"We hear that a Senate committee is coming to Eldoret to promote the town to a city. For what? What city while we are dying, we need our money, not a city," said Ms Koech.
