Uasin Gishu Assembly committee faulted over shoddy Sh1.1M foreign trip probe

The Uasin Gishu County Assembly committee tasked with probing the Finland Education Programme saga has been put to task for alleged shoddy and biased investigations and recommendations.

The 14-member committee, led by MCA Gilbert Kiptoo prepared a 78-page report that concluded there was forgery, fraud, abuse of office and misuse of funds in the programme.

Further, the committee implicated Senator Jackson Mandago, county officials Meshack Rono and Joshua Lelei, among others, in the charges to the point of recommending some of them to be reprimanded.

Further, the report also led to the suspension of programmes in Finland and Canada.

However, on Monday evening, Kiptoo was unable to explain to the court why they arrived at the conclusion.

During cross examination by Lawyers Fidel Limo, Stephen Kibungei and Elijah Kibet, gaps were exposed in the committees’ dealings during the probe.

Despite the programme running before and after Mandago left the office, Kiptoo who admitted that he supports Governor Jonathan Bii’s policy admitted that they did not summon him to record a statement on the programme.

He testified that he relied on evidence from the parents whose children went to Tampere in Finland, programmes’ trustees, bank statements and management and the county officials.

However, he was unable to pinpoint in his report where he recorded that he had summoned Lelei and Rono to give their side of the story after being implicated.

“I mentioned Lelei and Rono over 10 times. I do not know who they are but I called them in the committee. I have no report to show the same,” testified Kiptoo.

Kiptoo admitted that the committee did not verify if some of the affidavits from the petitioners, who complained of the programme were genuine or forgeries.

Further, he confirmed that they believed Former Uasin Gishu County Executive Committee Member for Education, Joseph Kurgat letter, stating that he was not involved in the programme.

“He did not appear at the committee to be cross-examined. He only sent letters, we had no reason not to believe him,” testified Kiptoo.

When pointed out that affidavits from the trustees had been forged, owing to the fact that the signature of Susan Keino, one of the trustees had been forged, Kiptoo had nothing to comment.

Kiptoo’s committee was also exposed for not inviting Mandago, who was the initiator of the programme, during their probe.

He could not justify the reason why they not only concluded that the county officials embezzled funds but also invited the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate the matter.

“I have no evidence tabled before this court to show that the accused persons were given the right of reply. I can, however, table the same,” he testified.

Kiptoo testified to the fact that the programme had no legal framework but later admitted that the county’s laws were amended to accommodate overseas programmes.

Further, he testified that they did not invite Lawyer Hillary Kiprop, who prepared the trust signed by all the six trustees, to verify if the same was a forgery or not.

Kiptoo was put to task to explain where they obtained figures showing that Rono and Lelei had personally benefited from the money, getting at least Sh24 million and Sh5 million respectively.

At first, he testified, “The committee, through bank statements, came up with the figures of how much money each county official benefitted.”

However, from his report, the source of the figures was one Reuben Chepses, a petitioner. Kiptoo admitted that they believed the figures without verifying the same.

He also did not produce any evidence to show that they were supplied with bank statements and that anyone from the bank was called to the committee.

Furthermore, despite claiming that the probe covered everything, Kiptoo admitted that they did not contact parents whose children did not travel and they also made no contacts to the students in Finland.

“We did not see the need to contact Tampere University since all the information was supplied to us by the county officials,” he testified.

Having been pressed harder to produce evidence, Kiptoo informed the court that his report, despite making serious findings and recommendations, was incomplete.

“I admit that the report missed crucial details that are relevant in the case,” he testified.

Mandago and his co-accused are charged with the stealing and misuse of Sh1.1 billion in the Finland and Canada programme, a charge they have denied.

The case will continue on August 25, 26, 27 and 28.