Governor Bii disowned overseas study programme at some point, court told

Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii disowned the Finland and Canada Education Programme after it faced challenges, a Nakuru court heard on Thursday evening.

Victims of the Sh1.1 billion programme scandal testified that Bii, who had owned the programme in June 2023, changed tunes two months later.

Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and county officials Meshack Rono and Joshua Lelei, are charged with misappropriation of the funds deposited by parents and students in the county government’s account.

Mitchelle Jeptanui, testified before Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege that when the programme faced problems, they raised issues and Bii called for a meeting in June 2023.

“We finished our payments in February 2023 and we waited but nothing happened. In June 2023, we met with Governor Bii, who assured us that our money was safe,” testified Jeptanui.

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By February 2023, Jeptanui said that she had applied for a Diploma in marketing and was accepted at Stenberg College, in Canada.

She said that on July 28, 2022, she paid Sh10,000 for registration and on October 14, 2022, she paid 650,000 for fees.

“On November 8, 2022, I paid Sh122,000 for visa, medical and insurance and on February 16, 2023, I deposited Sh300,000 for accommodation. The money was being paid to the Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust Fund,” she testified.

She said that when confronted by parents, the governor owned the programme but advised parents to add the fees and repay the accommodation.

According to Jeptanui, she was supposed to add Sh200,000 for fees and make a new payment of Sh300,000 for accommodation, despite doing the same in February, the same year.

“Parents raised concerns and we urged the county to explain to us where the Sh300,000 we paid was,” she testified.

Two months later (August 2023), Jeptanui said that Bii and Mandago arranged for a meeting, where Bii disowned the programme and said he was not conversant with it.

Further, she testified that Bii insisted that there was no money for accommodation in the account, despite parents making deposits.

She testified that things went sore and Bii shifted the blame to Mandago, who was also in the meeting.

“The governor spoke and said that he was not conversant with the programme, he asked the Senator to help him and explain to the parents what happened to their money,” she testified.

Jeptanui testified that Mandago assured the parents that their money would be refunded.

She retaliated that Bii who had expressed a lot of knowledge about the overseas programme in June 2023, became clueless two months later.

When she was cross-examined by Lawyers Fidel Limo, Stephen Kibungei and Elijah Kibet, Jeptanui said that she did not know if her father was refunded Sh548,000 from the money paid.

Of the eight witnesses who testified in the court, seven made their payments after Governor Bii assumed office.

Jeptanui’s testimony was corroborated by Irene Chepchirchir, Amon Kiptoo and Joseph Kiplimo, who paid over Sh3 million for the programme.

Kiplimo testified that he overpaid by Sh20,000 to ensure his son travelled to Laurea University in Finland.

He testified that in total, he paid Sh1.2 million, instead of Sh1.18 million, broken down by the county government.

“The programme kept on being postponed to the point where we lost all hope. Afterwards, I was told to pay extra Sh800,000 which I refused because I had taken a loan and sold my land to facilitate the payments,” he testified.

The hearing will continue on June 2 and 3.