Finland scholarship scandal: Victims tell court how they were duped into paying millions

Three victims in the Ksh.1 billion Finland education scholarship case told Nakuru Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege how they were duped to pay millions of shillings to secure slots for degree programmes in various universities.

The witnesses revealed that the overseas funding programme was marketed as a scholarship by the county government of Uasin Gishu.

Jacinta Barasa, John Rotich, and Naomi Yego - the 27th, 28th and 29th witnesses respectively - in the overseas education case involving Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and two co-accused persons Joshua Lelei and Meshack Rono took to the stands on Wednesday.

They testified before the Nakuru court how their dreams to study at Laurea University in Finland in September 2022 were cut short, despite pumping millions of shillings to the programme that turned out to be a scam.

“When it reached the time we were supposed to go to Finland, we were told by the officials that a group before us had delayed to go…we waited, and even sometimes we were having forums with the Governor who was assuring us that everything was okay and nothing would go wrong,” narrated Jacinta.

Rotich, a resident of Kesses in Uasin Gishu, and who enrolled for a course in physiotherapy and nursing at Laurea University, told Magistrate Ndege that he paid Ksh.1.2 million to the Uasin Gishu Overseas Trust Fund between August 15 to September 9, 2022.

He stated that, all the while, he knew that the Finland Education Programme was a scholarship initiated by the county.

“Hii programme ilikuwa ya county government, advert ya county, managers na employees ni county government…mwenye kuanzisha ni Mandago…so ukiambiwa uende ulipe fees huwezi kataa,” he stated.

The witnesses told the court that the delays in acquiring Visas and subsequent delays in starting the programme meant that they were defrauded.

“Siko Finland kwa sababu pesa haikulipwa, otherwise ningekuwa huko. Mambo imeharibika, nilienda kaunti nikaulizia, no one was responding…county no one was telling us and the new regime had come in,” added Rotich.

Naomi stated: “Nilipata email ikisema fees haikulipwa na nililipa Ksh.1.2 million.”

The three formed 29 witnesses out of the 202 lined up to testify in the case, with the hearing resuming on Thursday, September 26, 2024.