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A row surrounding Uasin Gishu county scholarship programme for students to Finland and Canada took another twist yesterday after irate parents threatened to disrupt the Eighth Devolution Conference set to be held in Eldoret next month if the devolved unit fails to refund them their money.

The county government has been on the spot for the mess which allegedly saw millions of shillings meant for students under the Finland Scholarship Programme embezzled by senior county officials.

There was drama on Monday at Kapseret sub-county office after irate parents and students stormed a meeting where Governor Jonathan Bii and his deputy John Barorot hosted Dutch Ambassador to Kenya Maarten Brauwer demanding an audience.

Parents and students who spoke to People Daily said they sacrificed a lot to raise the fees required to be deposited to the county government account for them to travel to Finland.

“We were called to the county government offices to take photos with some white people. Almost two years later we are not getting any communication as nobody has been giving us any audience,” said Esther Kemboi, a parent.

She said that she sold her half acre piece of land to support her child’s dream to pursue further education abroad which has not materialized.

Brian Kimutai, a student said he had to resign from his job after he was promised that the county government would secure him a place at Thompson Rivers University in Canada which has turned out to be a pipe dream.

“I’m very depressed and I can’t even face my parents because I know what they are going through after they sold land to support my education and visa. We entrusted the county government to assist us but it turned out that we were being conned. They are determined to kill this generation,” said Kimutai.
Another student Benjamin Cheboson said his parents also sold land with the hope that he will go and study a degree in nursing and applied science at Lauria university.

Governor Bii and Barorot who held a crisis meeting over the matter yesterday urged parents and students to be patient as they address the matter noting that the scholarship programme was initiated during his predecessor Jackson Mandago’s tenure.

Governor Bii said his administration was in talks with universities on the possibility of the students already in Finland getting more time to work which he said will enable them raise finances that can help in funding their expenses and fees.

He assured parents that the county government will continue offering any kind of support to ensure the safety of their students abroad.

Human rights activists in the North Rift led by Kimutai Kirui of the Centre Against Torture challenged the county administration to engage with the affected parents and provide a lasting solution to the problem.
“The county government signed the MoU with the universities and cannot detach itself from the issue. In fact the Governor himself traveled abroad where he signed the MoUs,” said Kimutai.

According to the county government, the first group of 202 students who went to Finland left Kenya between September 2021 and September 2022 with 111 going to Tampere University, Jvaskyla (25), while 66 went to Laurea University.

People Daily established that in the arrangement, each parent of the students managed to raise Sh1.19 million as school fees for the county government to ensure that they are placed at universities in Finland.
The parents also raised Sh100,000 (air ticket), three months accommodation (Sh80,000), insurance (Sh30,000), visa (Sh49,000) and Covid-19 certificate Sh5,000.

However, cracks are now emerging in the programme with many students’ risking being deported back to the country after the devolved unit failed to channel the money into the various universities accounts as per the agreement with the parents.

Documents in possession of People Daily indicate that fees for the second semester in other universities in Finland were due on March 31st,2023 while the due date for Tampere University has lapsed.
The Uasin Gishu County Assembly ad-hoc committee which investigated the scholarship scam found out that three senior officers under Mandago’s administration were responsible for the mess as they made themselves signatories of the fund to enrich themselves and withdrew millions of shillings on diverse dates.

Among others, the Assembly ad-hoc committee recommended that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) conduct a probe into forgery, abuse of office and integrity of county officers who served under Mandago’s administration. Mandago, now Uasin Gishu Senator, has since distanced himself from the Finland scholarship mess terming them baseless and unfounded.