Mandago in court over Sh1.1b scandal

**From left: Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago, Joshua Lelei and Meshack Rono at Nakuru Law court on July 1,2024.** [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Joel Chelule, who chairs the Uasin Gishu County Education Revolving Fund, has distanced himself from the controversial overseas education fund trustee that allegedly swindled parents Sh 1.1 billion.

Testifying before a Nakuru court in a case where Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and two others are facing abuse of office and conspiracy to steal Sh1.1 billion charges, Chelule also challenged the legality of the trustee.

He denied being the chairman of the oversees education fund trustee, which was allegedly formed in 2021 to oversee the Finland education programme for more than 200 students.

He told the court that in September 2022, he was informed by the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Education Joseph Kurgat that he was part of the trustee.

“The CECM said a petition had been brought by parents who were dissatisfied because some of their children did not make it to Finland,” testified Chelule.

Chelule told Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege that he was directed to meet other trustees, who included Meshack Rono, Susan Keino, Joseph Maritim, Joel Ruto and Loice Chelimo and respond to the concerns raised.

“I was told that it was only the six of us who could respond. We met on October 3, 2022,” he testified.

In the meeting, they were informed by Maritim that a trust on overseas funds had been registered, and they were listed as trustees.

Maritim, the former chief officer of Youth and Sports, was to be charged alongside Mandago and his co-accused person, but he is still at large.

Chelule said they requested the registration details and documents, but they were not availed.

“We also learnt there was a overseas fund bank account as KCB Eldoret East branch. We requested bank statements, but we have not been given to date,” he testified.

Chelule said there were no appointment letters, no management meetings and orientations to prove their appointments as valid.

“We concluded that the appointment to the trust was incomplete, improper and unprocedural,” he testified.

Chelule said, together with Chelimo and David Kesio, who had also been mentioned as a trustee, visited the bank after the meeting.

The bank’s operations manager, who identified himself as Chesire, confirmed that they had been listed as trustees, save for Kesio.

He said they were informed that minutes of a meeting allegedly held on February 2, 2021, their KRA Pins and National IDs were used to open the accounts.

“When we asked to see the documents, he told us that the bank was under strict instruction that only Maritim, the principal trustee, could access the documents,” he told the court.

He said they wrote to Maritim on January 6, 2023, asking him to remove their names from the list of trustees.

Chelule said that the six were later summoned by the County Assembly of Uasin Gishu and shown the minutes used to open the accounts where Chelule, Maritim, Ruto, Chelimo, Keino and Rono allegedly attended. He denounced attending the meeting.

He said they were also furnished with the Certificate of Incorporation of the Trust dated August 27, 2021, which they denounced.

“On April 5, 2023, we recorded statements before the Ethics and Anticorruption Commission (EACC), where we were shown the Declaration of Trust Document allegedly signed by me, Ruto, Maritim, Keino, Rono and Chelimo. I denounced it too,” he testified.

In cross-examination by Lawyer Stephen Kibungei, Chelule said that despite going to Finland with Mandago and witnessing him sign a Memorandum of Understanding, he did not know of the appointment.

Mandago and his co-accused persons have denied ten charges of conspiracy to steal, abuse of office and forgery in the Finland education programme saga.

The charge sheet indicates that the three conspired to steal the Sh1.1 billion from KCB Bank in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu, between March 1, 2021 and September 12, 2022.