Alleged refunds, missing witnesses cast shadow in Sh1.1B overseas study scandal

The state has been put on the spot for allegedly withdrawing witnesses and victims allegedly being refunded in the Sh1.1 billion Finland and Canada Education Programme.

The victims were to testify against Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago, Meshack Rono, and Joshua Lelei.

The three are charged with the alleged misuse of Sh1.1 billion deposited by parents into the Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Fund account between 1 March 2021 and 12 September 2022.

On Monday afternoon, Mandago’s lawyer, Stephen Kibungei, claimed that two of the nine witnesses lined up to testify in the case were removed from the list.

“I have been duly informed by my client that the two witnesses were in court but were advised against testifying owing to the fact that their money had been refunded,” alleged Kibungei.

According to Kibungei, the two witnesses would have revealed to the court that some parents, who are complaining about the programme, received a refund.

Kibungei implied that the withdrawal of the witnesses was a calculated move by the prosecution to hide  evidence of refunds in the case.

“We are not complaining because seven witnesses have testified. We just want all the listed witnesses to be available in court,” said Kibungei.

Prosecutor Moses Macharia denied the claim that the two witnesses were in court. He insisted that the prosecution could only provide seven witnesses to testify.

Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege, the trial magistrate, said that the prosecution, which is responsible for leading the case, was at liberty to select which witnesses to call.

He, however, advised that witnesses bonded by the court must attend and testify.

The allegation comes two weeks after one of the victims admitted to receiving an extra refund in the programme.

William Ayabeyi, who testified on 15 April, told the court that he received a refund of over Sh1.2 million, despite only paying Sh1.072 million.

He testified that he paid fees for his daughter, Purity Jerop, between 24 October 2022 and 3 March 2023 to facilitate her studies in Canada from April 2023.

“I paid a total of Sh1.072 million for my daughter to study a Nursing course at Sternberg College in Canada. She received the acceptance letters on 11 February 2023,” he said.

He declined to disclose the exact amount he was refunded but said it was over Sh1.2 million.

The Sh1.1 billion appearing in the charge sheet as the alleged money lost is contested by Mandago’s team.

They rely on evidence by former Deputy Governor John Barorot, who testified on 24 September 2024 and admitted that, of the Sh1.1 billion mentioned, only Sh8 million could not be accounted for.

Barorot admitted that the county government managed to trace Sh92 million of the alleged Sh100 million owed to parents, though it may be impossible to recover the money.

“It is only Sh8 million that cannot be traced because the Principal Trustee in the trust running the programme became hostile and refused to grant us access to the accounts,” testified Barorot.

The former Deputy Governor said he was tasked with investigating the programme and that they discovered the county owed parents Sh100 million.

The discrepancies in the amount allegedly lost in the programme emerged as the number of witnesses in the case surpassed 70 on Monday.

Victims who testified gave individual accounts of the millions of shillings they paid, but to date, they have not travelled to either Finland or Canada.

Out of the seven, Kiptoo Rorio testified that he paid Sh900,000 in order to study for a degree in Computing Science at Thompson University in Canada.

He testified that he refused to pay the Sh50,000 balance after he developed doubts about the programme.

“The programme had not only developed issues, but it was also taking a long time,” he testified.