ELDORET Kenya August 16 -The Director of Public Prosecutions has ordered the arrest of Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and three others over Finland and Canada Overseas Education Programme.
Senator Mandago, Joseph Kipkemoi Maritim, Meshak Rono and Joshua Kipkemoi Lelei are to face the charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, stealing, abuse of office and forgery.
The four are accused of conspiring to steal Sh1.1 billion from an account domiciled at the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) in Eldoret registered under the Uasin Gishu Education Trust Fund meant for overseas university fees for students under the programme.
According to the DCI, the officials withdrew the amounts in cash, cheque and by bank transfer for their personal use from KCB Eldoret branch account number 1285922778.
After trying to reach Mandago in vain, the detectives applied for a warrant of arrest from Nakuru Law Courtswith reports that he was attending the Devolution Conference in Eldoret town.
Police spokesperson Dr Resila Onyango said they are in the process of executing the warrant against Mandago, who has gone underground since Tuesday.
“We call upon the Senator to present himself at the nearest police station. NPS further appeals to any member of public with information about Senator Mandago’s whereabout to report to the nearest police station or report via our toll free numbers 999, 112, 911 and the fichua Kwa DCI 0800722203.”
On August 11, Mandago and the other officials were summoned to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation headquarters where they were grilled by a team that is investigating the Finland and Canada overseas education programme.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is also probing allegations of embezzlement of over Sh837 million by officials of the Uasin Gishu county government collected from parents for the facilitation of scholarship programmes for their children to Finland and Canada.
The scholarship scandal came to light in September 2021, when parents of students who had been selected for the scholarship programme began to complain that they had not received any information about their children’s travel arrangements.
The parents were later told by the county government that there was no money to send the students to Finland.
The EACC probe revealed that only Sh257 million had been used to pay for the students’ tuition and other expenses, while the rest was embezzled by the officials.
The probe revealed that in respect of VISA processing, each of the 202 students who travelled to Finland paid Sh39,000 each, totaling to Sh7.88million.
“Each of the 45 students who travelled to Canada on the basis of the subject inquiry paid Sh49,000 for VISA processing with a total contribution of Sh2,205,000. In sum, the students who travelled to Finland and Canada contributed a total of Sh10,083,000,” the ODPP said.
Out of the total amounts contributed by the students who travelled to Finland and Canada, the said Maritim, Rono and Lelei withdrew Sh66 million from the account purportedly for the same purpose of VISA processing.
According to the detectives, the County Government of Uasin Gishu further entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) with various universities in Finland and Canada without the authority of the County Government as is envisaged by the law. There was no resolution from the County Government of Uasin Gishu.
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