Uasin Gishu county owes parents Sh100m in Finland scholarship scandal

Former Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor, John Barorot testifies in Nakuru Law Courts on September 24, 2024, in connection with the Sh 1.1 billion overseas education programme scandal.  [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Uasin Gishu county owes parents over Sh100 million in the Finland and Canada Education Programme scandal, a Nakuru court heard on Wednesday.

Former Deputy Governor John Barorot told Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege that the county managed to trace around Sh92 million but it may be impossible to recover the money.

Barorot took the witness stand in the Sh1.1 billion Finland and Canada Education Programme scandal case facing Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and two county officials, Meshack Rono and Joshua Lelei.

The three are charged with 10 counts of conspiracy to steal, stealing money, abuse of office and forgery, leading to loss of the fees paid by students and their parents.

According to the former Deputy Governor, despite the case revolving around alleged Sh1.1 billion fund misappropriation, the county can account for the rest of the money, save for about Sh8 million.

“The Sh8 million cannot be traced because the Principal Trustee in the trust running the programme became hostile and refused to grant us access to the accounts,” he said.

He said when he and Governor Jonathan Bii took office from Mandago’s administration in August 2022, parents who had paid fees for their children to pursue courses in Finland and Canada complained the students were yet to travel.

“I was tasked to chair a task force of 11 people, find out what the problem was, and come up with short-term and long-term solutions to the problems,” said Barorot.

Barorot testified that the task force found out that out of the Sh100 million owed to parents, Sh66 million paid by some students to the Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust Fund Account was transferred to other students.

“Parents of students who were already in Finland and Canada delayed and refused to pay fees for the subsequent semester and the county government transferred Sh66 million of money paid by students still in Kenya, to ensure those abroad were not sent back to Kenya,” he said.

Out of the money traced using students’ database, Barorot told the court that over Sh17.13 million was an overpayment to Canada for students who did not travel.

According to him, fees had been paid for a cohort of 48 students but 14 students did not travel, because not all of them qualified for the programme.

The former Deputy Governor said Sh69 million was refunded to over 125 students, immediately the new government took over.

Barorot said that 823 students from Uasin Gishu, enrolled for the programme since 2021 out of which 323 travelled to Finland and 61 travelled to Canada.

“The students paid between Sh900,000 to Sh1.4 million depending on the course they were supposed to do in either Finland or Canada,” he said.

He said that since many parents had no bank statements, the county government acted as a guarantor to enable the students get visas, medical check up and travel insurance.