EACC to Arrest Senator Mandago Over Finland Scholarship Saga

Twalib Mbarak the CEO at the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission has confirmed the commission received a go-ahead from the Director of Public Prosecution to charge Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago.

Mbarak who was speaking in Murang’a County during a public engagement forum preceding the International Day celebrated on December 9 further noted that the commission has acquired evidence it will use against the former governor.

“We have recommended him to be charged and have received the go-ahead from DPP because we found something about him,” he said.

EACC has been investigating the Sh1.1 billion scholarship programme founded by the Uasin Gishu County government during Mandago’s era.

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The funds were collected from parents to facilitate a scholarship programme for their children to Finland and Canada.

The Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust Fund account is said to have been opened in May 2021 with three officials named as signatories.

The account is said to have received a total of Sh837,855,889 between May 2021 and December 2022 from over 200 students who travelled to Finland to pursue various courses in various institutions.

The funds were supposed to be sent to the learning institutions from the account.

Records indicate that Tampere University received Sh113,750,634 while JAMK University received Sh657,500, Northern Lights University received Sh5,023,480 and Elimu University received Sh3,249,220.

LUT University received Sh6,552,000, SCI Stenberg received Sh7,570,500, Edu Excellence College received Sh145,816,300 and Eton College Vancouver received Sh2,196,000.

About 202 students were sent to Finland between September 2021 and September 2022 out of whom 67 were admitted to Laurea University of Applied Sciences to pursue degrees in nursing.

Another batch of 25 students was admitted to Jyvaskylla University to pursue a degree in nursing while 111 students joined Tampere University.

Each student had contributed Sh1.19 million in school fees to the fund before leaving for Finland and a further Sh100,000 for air tickets.

An extra Sh80,000 was contributed for three months’ accommodation and Sh30,000 for an insurance policy.

However, some of the universities allegedly did not receive the required funds, putting the students at risk of deportation.

One of the universities is alleged to have terminated its agreement with the county government.