The Kes 1.1 billion fraud case hearing against Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago commenced on Tuesday before a Nakuru court after over a year.
Former Uasin Gishu County Deputy Governor John Barorot was the first to appear in court out of the 202 who are expected to testify.
Barorot told Nakuru Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ndege that most of the parents whose money was lost through the controversial Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust Fund were too needy to hold bank accounts.
Further, the court heard that most of the parents who wanted to send their children abroad through the program has to fundraise within their communities to get money to deposit in the trust fund.
“The Overseas Education Program was meant to cushion parents who wanted to send their children abroad from having to utter their bank statement because many of them did not even have accounts,” he said.
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Barorot, who was also the chairperson of a task force that investigated the overseas education program, was testifying in a case where Mandago and two former counties, Meshack Rono and Joshua Lelei, are charged with conspiracy to defraud Uasin Gishu Education Trust Fund off Kes 1.1 billion.
A third suspect who was also the principal trustee of the fund, Joseph Maritim is at large and the charge sheet had to be edited to omit his name after he went missing.
Maritim was said to have traveled to Canada in June last year.
Mandago, Rono, and Lelei face another seven counts, including conspiring to steal, stealing, abuse of office, and arbitrarily entering a memorandum of understanding between various universities in Finland and Canada on behalf of the county government without resolution and approval.
The offenses were allegedly committed during Mandago’s tenure as the Uasin Gishu Governor while his co-accused persons were senior County Government officials.
Additionally, Barorot told the court that the current Uasin Gishu Governor, Jonathan Bii, formed a task force to investigate the Overseas Education Program following numerous calls from affected parents who wanted their monies refunded.
“The parents told of how their children were depressed and grounded in their homes as they could not walk around due to shame of failing to travel abroad even after their family held funds drives.”
Barorot said out of the 823 students whose parents deposited funds in the trust fund, less than half managed to travel abroad.
Moreover, he said that when the current administration chipped in, many abroad were on the verge of being deported because of school fees arrears.
