Mandago, seven others face fresh charges in Sh50 million Finland-Canada education scandal

Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and seven others are set to face fresh charges over the Sh50 million Finland and Canada overseas education scandal.

This comes after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Renson Ingonga, approved the charges as recommended by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

The commission had been investigating the Sh1.1 billion scholarship programme founded by the Uasin Gishu County Government during Senator Mandago's tenure as Governor.

The development offers relief to victims in a case that was taking a different turn due to the lack of critical evidence in the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)'s file, which had been used to prosecute the matter in a Nakuru court.

The DCI file had, for instance, failed to establish the money trail in the matter, which is essential in identifying the individuals behind the theft.

Noting this oversight, the DPP asked the DCI to fill the gaps to strengthen the evidence.

In response, the DCI requested the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to withdraw the current case before a Nakuru court involving Mandago and three others and replace it with the EACC file, which contains the necessary information.

This request was made in a letter dated September 19, in which DCI Deputy Director of Investigations Paul Wachira wrote to the DPP, indicating their intention to withdraw the charges against Mandago, Meshack Rono, Joseph Kipkemboi Maritim, and Joshua Lelei.

The DCI acknowledged that, before the matter was registered in court, they had not covered several areas and added that the EACC had stronger evidence that could lead to the conviction of the suspects and recovery of the embezzled funds.

The DCI's file also failed to establish the amount of academic fees and other incidental costs paid by each student admitted to Tampere, Laurea, Jyvaskyla, Gradia Consortium College, Metropolia, and LUT, all universities in Finland.

"There was no securing of original documents as they had already been collected by the EACC, and the number of students admitted to Canadian universities, namely Thompson Rivers, Northern Lights College, and Sternberg College, and the amount of academic fees and other incidental costs paid by each student was not known," the detective notes in the letter.

He adds that the number of visas processed at the Embassy of Finland and the High Commission of Canada for students travelling to Finland and Canada, respectively, and the visa processing fees were not known.

The file had further failed to obtain critical evidence from the agents relied upon by the county government to link the students to the Finnish universities, while the EACC's file contained evidence obtained by detectives who had travelled to Finland and Canada and interviewed students regarding the saga.

"All the above information was sought through Interpol and Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) to both countries, but so far no response has been received. These issues have been raised repeatedly in hearings, and the defence counsel is exploiting the lack of such critical information," Wachira told the ODPP.

To prevent further exploitation of the gaps by the defence team, the senior detective suggested that the EACC introduce their case, as the commission holds original documents taken from the County Government of Uasin Gishu.

"It is our request that the case before the Chief Magistrate's Court in Nakuru, court number 5, be withdrawn under Section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, and the accused persons be charged afresh using the case investigated by EACC," he stated.

Following these developments, the DPP issued new orders approving the EACC file and the arrest of more suspects in a letter to the commission dated September 25.

"Further to my letter dated November 16, 2023, I direct that the suspects be arrested and arraigned for plea-taking. This has been necessitated by the fact that the DCI has abandoned the case that was filed in Nakuru," the DPP said.

The new suspects include Phylis Wanjiku Warigi (Gender Officer, Deputy Governor's Office), Tony Kibet Tanui (Principal Education Officer, Youth Affairs and Sports Department), Joel Rutto (Director, County Education Revolving Fund, Youth Affairs and Sports Department), and Skill Dove Limited, as well as any other entity alleged to have fraudulently acquired money linked to the fund.

The EACC probe revealed that Sh284.4 million was paid to universities in Finland and Canada, Sh315.9 million was paid to foreign agencies, and Sh50.7 million was paid to local agencies.

Additionally, Sh308.9 million and Sh74.2 million were withdrawn in cash.

In the fresh case, the accused persons will face charges of conspiracy to commit an offence of economic crime, abuse of office, breach of trust, fraudulent acquisition of public property, and uttering a false document, contrary to Section 353 of the Penal Code.

Senator Mandago and his co-accused, Meshack Rono, Joseph Kipkemboi Maritim, and Joshua Kipkemoi Lelei, were first arrested and arraigned before a Chief Magistrate's Court in Nakuru on August 17, last year, where they denied charges of conspiracy to commit a felony.

So far, 26 witnesses have testified in the case, whose hearings began on July 1 this year.