While parents and their children waited with bated breath for Uasin Gishu's first airlift programme to Finland and Canada, the county officials they trusted to make their dreams a reality were busy at the bank, withdrawing funds and making merry in town.
Documents obtained by the Nation paint a picture of officials who did not have the best interests of those they were supposed to serve in mind as they siphoned off the cash in bulk withdrawals of up to Sh2.4 million for their own use.
On Wednesday (August 16, 2023), Usain Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago, Meshack Rono, the deputy director, Uasin Gishu County Education revolving fund and trustee, and Joshua Kipkemboi Lelei were detained overnight at the Nakuru Central Police station, while the fourth suspect Joseph Kipkemboi Maritim, the immediate former chief officer for youth and sports was said to be out of the country.
Mandago presented himself at the Rift Valley Regional DCI headquarters, in Nakuru City at around 4:10pm, after a court issued a warrant of arrest against the former Uasin Gishu Governor and the former county officials.
And after hours of interrogation the three were escorted to the Nakuru Central Police station, at around 6pm, they spent the night.
“The three will be arraigned on Thursday morning,” revealed Nakuru County Police Commander Samuel Ndanyi.
The four are jointly facing charges of conspiring to steal Sh1.1 billion from a KCB account registered under the Uasin Gishu Education Trust Fund, meant for the overseas university fees for students under the Uasin Gishu County Overseas Education programme, a crime they are said to have committed on diverse dates between March 1, 2021 and September 12, 2021.
“Joseph Kipkemboi Maritim, Meshack Rono and Joshua Kipkemboi Lelei each individually withdrew from the Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust KCB Bank Account Number 1285922778. The said officers withdrew the amounts in cash, cheque and by bank transfer for their personal use,” DPP said.
Documents seen by Nation show that between June 15, 2021, and September 5, 2022, Meshack Rono handled over Sh15.7 million through his accounts through cash, cheque and bank transfer withdrawals, with a further Sh10.7 million going towards the students' Visa application over the same period.
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Mr Rono made huge cash transactions some totalling between Sh1.5 million (July 2022) and Sh2.4 million (January 2023) over the same period.
The documents further show that Mr Kipkemboi handled Sh8.6 million, and a further Sh3.73 million for visa processing. He also withdrew Sh660,000 that went towards the embassy travel.
On cash withdrawal, Mr Kipkemboi highest transaction was Sh1 million in September 2021, which was done via a cheque.
The documents further show Joshua Kepkemoi withdrew Sh2.096 million via cheque and bank transfer. His highest amount was a transfer of Sh414, 000 done in May last year.
Now, the DPP has recommended that outraise of the fraud charges, that Mr Kipkemboi separately faces charges of stealing Sh660,000 from the account and forging minutes of the trust with intent to defraud the trust.
Mr Mandago is facing abuse of office charges, whereby he is alleged to have while being the Governor of the county, arbitrarily misrepresented that the county government of Uasin Gishu was offering full scholarships to students to study in Finland and Canada.
On Wednesday, as county and national leaders attended the official opening of the Devolution Conference in Eldoret town, Mr Mandago, who was meant to be the host, skipped the event, which was opened by President William Ruto, and instead spent the better part of Wednesday morning travelling to Nakuru City, for grilling over the Finland scholarship saga.
Senator Mandago whom police authorities claimed had gone missing and switched his phone chauffeured himself from his Eldoret home to Nakuru where he was grilled for about two hours.
Detectives escort Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago to the Central Police Station in Nakuru on August 16, 2023, shortly after he presented himself at the DCI offices in Nakuru City where he was questioned for hours.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
Mandago presented himself at the Rift Valley Regional DCI headquarters, in Nakuru City at around 4:10 pm, after a court issued a warrant of arrest against the former Uasin Gishu Governor.
Speaking at the conference, President Ruto said that individuals found culpable of embezzling funds from parents and students must take responsibility for their actions.
“Anyone who stole the hard-earned money earmarked for the education of the residents’ children should be prepared to reimburse all of the stolen sums to the last coin,” stated Ruto.
President Ruto promised to step in to offer financial support to the affected students, upon the completion of the ongoing investigations into the saga.
However, President Ruto emphasized that his commitment to providing financial assistance will not shield those responsible for the scholarship scam
“I will not allow them (suspects) to get away with this crime. The actions are very embarrassing,” he said.
Mandago was first grilled by detectives on August 11, over the county’s scholarship scam.
Mandago honoured the summons and appeared at the DCI headquarters in Nairobi, where he recorded a statement.
The controversial multi-million shilling Uasin Gishu scholarship programme has been reduced to a blame game between Governor Jonathan Bii and Senator Mandago.
Mr Bii has distanced himself from blame calling on Mandago to come out clean in the scandal in which millions of students' money was allegedly misappropriated.
Mandago has also refuted allegations levelled against him while asking Bii to take responsibility as the leader of the county.
Mandago said that when he left office after last year's election, he handed over all the duties and performance of the county and entrusted it to his successor Bii.
The controversy over the scam has seen affected parents and students issue ultimatums to be refunded their funds, and even at some point threatening to disrupt the ongoing Devolution Conference being held in Eldoret. Last month, DCI commenced investigations into allegations of fraud involving a scholarship program to Finland, spearheaded by the Uasin Gishu County government.
This followed numerous complaints by members of the public from Uasin Gishu County, who claimed to have defrauded millions of shillings in a scholarship programme to the Scandinavian country, which failed to materialise.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations commenced investigations into allegations of fraud involving a scholarship program to Finland in July.
