Testimony Shifts Blame

A former Uasin Gishu County Secretary, Edwin Bett, testified on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, that the contentious KSh 1.1 billion Finland and Canada scholarship programme was managed by a trust and not directly by the county government. During a hearing in Nakuru, Mr. Bett told Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege that the Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust account was operated by officers from the county's department of youth, education, and sports. He asserted that the county administration had no access to or control over the fund's account, which was not among the official accounts handed over to the new administration after the August 2022 General Election. This testimony distances the county's formal structures from the alleged mismanagement that left hundreds of students stranded and families financially devastated.

The Human Cost of Broken Dreams

The court proceedings have laid bare the profound human cost of the scandal. Parents and students have delivered heartbreaking testimonies of their sacrifices and subsequent despair. One parent, Edward Kiptek, told the court he paid KSh 2.5 million for his two children, only for their dreams to be shattered. Another witness, John Rotich, recounted paying KSh 1.2 million into the trust fund, believing it was a county-guaranteed programme. "This programme was from the county government, the advert was from the county, the managers and employees were from the county... the one who started it was Mandago... so if you are told to go and pay fees, you can't refuse," he stated in court. Many families sold land, took loans, or used their retirement savings to fund the opportunity. The subsequent failure of the programme has left many in financial ruin and emotional distress.

A Web of Allegations and Denials

Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago, who was governor when the programme was initiated, is charged alongside former county officials Meshack Rono and Joshua Lelei with conspiracy to misappropriate KSh 1.1 billion. The prosecution alleges the funds were diverted from a Kenya Commercial Bank account in Eldoret meant for the students' university fees. The scandal came to light in early 2023 when students in Finland faced deportation due to unpaid tuition and accommodation fees. Tampere University of Applied Sciences, one of the receiving institutions, terminated its agreement with the county in March 2023, citing these fee arrears. The Finnish Ambassador to Kenya, Pirkka Tapiola, clarified that the arrangement was a commercial one between the universities and the county, not a scholarship agreement with the Finnish government.

The Path to Justice

The ongoing case in Nakuru has seen numerous witnesses testify, with a total of 202 lined up by the prosecution. As of early December 2024, 35 witnesses had taken the stand. Testimonies have revealed a complex situation with allegations of hidden fees and shifting requirements from the universities and embassies that compounded the programme's challenges. Former Deputy Governor John Barorot testified in September 2024 about a task force formed to probe the matter, which found that a well-defined policy framework for the programme was lacking. The defense has argued that the programme was legitimate, with defense lawyer Elijah Kibet suggesting the fund was operated under the County Revolving Fund Act. The court case has faced adjournments, with the next hearing scheduled to run from March 10 to March 12, 2025. For the hundreds of affected families in Uasin Gishu and across Kenya, the protracted legal battle is a painful reminder of broken trust in public institutions as they continue their fight for refunds and accountability.