Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary nominee Alfred Mutua has promised to make a follow up on the Uasin Gishu County education scholarship scam, should he get approved by parliament to assume office.
Mutua on rule of law
Mutua who on Sunday, August 4, 2024, appeared before National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula-led Parliamentary Committee on Appointments said he will ensure that the rule of law is applied.
The former Tourism CS had been asked by Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Boss Shollei what he will do to ensure that the victims of the scam get justice.
Shollei sought to know whether Mutua would investigate the scam and have the victims get their money back.
Mutua on con organizations
In response, Mutua pointed out that it was wrong for the people to lose money through con organizations.
“I will ensure that the rule of law is applied, and if anybody has to return money according to the rule of law, we will follow the process so that the people get their rights because it is wrong for the people to lose money through con organizations,” Mutua stated.
Hon. Gladys Shollei: Will you ensure the people of Uasin Gishu who lost over Ksh.100m get their money back?
Alfred Mutua: I will ensure that the rule of law is applied and if anybody has to return money, we will ensure it happens. It is wrong for people to lose money through con… pic.twitter.com/pOZwlblAY1
— K24 TV (@K24Tv) August 4, 2024
Uasin Gishu scholarship scam
In August 2023, university graduates in Uasin Gishu came out to narrate how a scholarship programme initiated by the county government that they hoped would change their lives for the better, had turned out to be their worst nightmare.
The graduates who were part of at least 126 others who enrolled for the programme that turned out to be a scam, said they had lost millions of millions of shillings.
Mandago fingered in the scam
Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago who was the county’s governor at the time of the programme was blamed over the misappropriation of the funds intended to provide scholarships to over 200 students.
The Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust scholarship was established to see students secure scholarships in Canada and Finland, but even after interested parties paid the required amounts, most students have remained home and many have been deported.
The Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust scholarship bank account was opened in March 2021, with three officials, Joseph Maritim, Joshua Lelei, and Meshack Rono, named as signatories.
The account is said to have received a total of Ksh837,855,889 between May 2021 and December 2022 from over 200 students, but the funds were misappropriated.
The uproar led to the arrest of Mandago, who together with his accomplices, are accused of conspiring to steal Ksh1.1 billion from a Kenya Commercial Bank account in Eldoret registered under Uasin Gishu Education trust Fund meant for overseas university fees.
His arrest came after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) allowed Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to charge Mandago over the scam.
However, Mandago was released on a Ksh2 million bond.