Mandago scholarship scandal case fails to kick off, out on Ksh2m bond
By Print Reporter, August 18, 2023Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago was yesterday released on a Sh2 million bond with a surety of a similar amount or a cash bail of Sh500,000 after spending a night in custody.
His two co-accused were also released on similar terms by a Nakuru Court.
Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege, while presiding over the matter, directed that Mandago, Meshack Rono and Joshua Lelei appear before the court on a later date for plea taking in which they are jointly accused of conspiring to steal Sh1.1 billion on diverse dates between March 1, 2021, and September 12, 2021.
Four accused
The trial process failed to kick off after the magistrate ruled that it will only start once all the four accused appeared in court.
The prosecution was granted orders to lodge an appeal at the High Court to determine the commencement of the case.
The court however declined to lift a warrant of arrest issued against Joseph Kipkemboi, the first accused, who was said to be out of the country with his lawyer Sam Yego arguing that his client was not summoned to neither record a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations nor appear before the court for plea taking.
“I have explained why he is in Canada and he went there way before investigations commenced. As to why he is singled among the four accused persons warrant of arrest I do not understand,” said the lawyer.
Sang had sought orders from the court to defer plea taking to a date convenient for the first accused but the court declined to grant him the orders.
Disgruntled parents
The arrest and arraignment of Mandago and his co-accused comes amid an outcry by disgruntled parents who had raised money through the Uasin Gishu Education Trust Fund to enable their children to study in Finland with the County government facilitating the process.
The embattled senator surrendered to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) at the Nakuru regional office on Wednesday afternoon hours after a warrant for his arrest had been issued against him.
Aware that detectives were hot on his trail, Mandago abandoned the ongoing devolution conference at the Eldoret Sports Club where he was among the listed speakers of the day and instead drove himself all the way to Nakuru to turn himself in.