Witness wants Bii summoned in Sh1.1b Canada education plan case
Courts
By
Daniel Chege
| Aug 26, 2025
Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii is a spot over the Finland and Canada education programme scandal. [File, Standard]
A witness in the Sh1.1 billion Finland and Canada education programme scandal case has asked the court to summon Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii.
Milton Kipkoech wants Bii to explain why the programme failed at the Northern Lights College in Canada. Kipkoech’s nephew, Brian Lagat, was to join the college in January 2023.
He testified on Monday in a case where Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and county officials Meshack Rono and Joshua Lelei are charged with stealing and misusing funds paid by parents between March 2021 and September 2022.
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Mandago was the governor at the time.
In his testimony before Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege, Kipkoech said that Lagat was to join the Finland Education Programme in early 2022, but that it never materialised.
He testified that he saw Governor Bii and Lelei at the college in Canada, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
“Sometime in 2022, I saw on social media that the current Governor Bii had signed an MoU with Northern Lights College,” Kipkoech said.
He said that in the photo, he also saw Lelei, whom he had approached for assistance to get his nephew an opportunity in Canada.
Kipkoech said he was referred to offices in Eldoret and was advised to pay fees.
“On November 20, 2022, I deposited Sh650,000 in the Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust Account, and I was informed that my nephew would be travelling in January 2023,” he told the court.
He said that despite making payments, his nephew did not get the opportunity to travel to Canada. He said his efforts to seek a refund and an explanation have not succeeded.
“County government officials have been tossing me up and down, and I heard people claiming that the money we paid had been misused by the same officials,” he told the court.
Kipkoech asked the court to summon Bii to explain what went wrong with the programme.
“I would like Governor Bii to explain what happened with Northern Lights University because my nephew never got an admission letter,” he said.
Kipkoech testified as witness 121. Four others who testified before him, narrated how they lost their money. Christine Linchuni testified that she paid a total of Sh1.07 million between October 2022 and January 2023 for her son Titus Murimi to study in Canada.
Linchuni said that after she made the first payment, she was informed that the process would be concluded within three months.
However, she said that the programme was delayed, and on May 5, 2023, she wrote a letter asking for refund but did not get a response.
“I was later shocked to be informed that our money had been used to pay fees for other students who were abroad, without our authority,” she said.
Mandago and his co-accused are charged with stealing the money, forgery, and abuse of office. The hearing continues Tuesday.