Parents who fell victim to the Finland and Canada education scholarship scandal were misled into investing millions of shillings without Uasin Gishu County giving them full information about the programme, a Nakuru court heard on Wednesday.
The parents told Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege that the county government, which coordinated the scholarship programme, gave scant information that led to uninformed financial decisions.
Mr Joel Tirop takes oath on April 16, 2025 as he prepares to testify in a Nakuru court in the Uasin Gishu scholarship case.
Mr Joel Tirop, a parent and principal at Sosiani Secondary School testified that he paid Sh997,000 for his son's university education abroad following county instructions.
He first paid Sh918,000 on February 22, 2022 and later added Sh79,000 for medical insurance and visa processing.
Later, he learnt about a mandatory bridging course known as ‘Pathway Studies’, which cost Sh541,000 for two months.
Mr Tirop said he opted out of the programme after being asked to pay more money to cover future semesters.
“I wish we could have gotten all the information before we started making payments. That would have helped us make informed decisions,” said Mr Tirop.
Mr Jacob Kipngetich takes oath on April 16, 2025 as he prepares to testify in a Nakuru court in the Uasin Gishu scholarship case.
Another parent, Mr Jacob Kipngetich, said he sold a piece of land and paid Sh550,000 for his son, Jessy Kiplagat, to study at Thompson Rivers University in Canada. However, the university later revoked the acceptance after he failed to raise an additional Sh120,000.
“I exhausted all I had after selling my land. When the institution demanded more, I could not raise it,” he told the court.
Mr Benjamin Tanui also testified that he paid Sh1.77 million for his child but was only refunded Sh638,000.
The county told him the rest went toward pathway studies, but he says he has never received any receipts to confirm this.
“I am now demanding a refund of Sh541,000, which has never been accounted for,” said Mr Tanui.
The three were among several witnesses testifying in a case where Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and others are charged with misappropriating over Sh1 billion meant for the overseas education programme.
Parents accused the county of poor accountability and failing to ensure follow-up or provide recourse when the programme collapsed.
