Senator Mandago returns to court chambers as Ksh.1B scandal trial resumes

Mandago and his co-accused will also face charges of conspiracy to commit an economic crime, abuse of office, breach of trust, fraudulent acquisition of public property, and uttering a false document in violation of Section 353 of the Penal Code.

Affected persons Mercy Tarus and Joel Koech have been summoned to appear and give their testimonies. 

The prosecutions follows a nod by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to an inquiry file forwarded by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for Mandago and three other senior county officials to be grilled.

Mandago and 4 other co-accused persons; Joseph Maritim, Joshua Lelei, Meshack Rono and Jacob Sisey, the Director of Skill Dove Ltd, allegedly embezzled Ksh.1.1 billion meant to fly out more than 125 students for higher education to Canada and Finland.

EACC has been investigating the Ksh1.1 billion scholarship programme founded by the Uasin Gishu County government during Mandago’s era as Governor.

According to reports, the money was deposited in a Uasin Gishu Education Trust Fund account established in May 2021, and by December 2022, parents had credited Ksh. 957,167,143 to the account.

A total of Ksh.257,326,740 was deducted from the account to facilitate beneficiaries' travel to Finland and Canada for the programmes.