Governor Bii distances himself from scholarship row
Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii has moved to exonerate his administration from blame for the alleged loss of millions of shillings through a scholarship programme.
Bii, who took over from Jackson Mandago (now senator), yesterday said the Finland Scholarship Programme “was run independently of the county government by a trust and no public funds were used to fund the program”.
“This, therefore, means that no public funds were or will be appropriated to fund this programme. The innovative idea was conceptualized to address youth unemployment and it was tailor-made for the requirements in Finland,” Bii said in a statement.
His position, however, contradicts the findings by a Uasin-Gishu County Assembly committee on the issue which found that three senior officers under Mandago’s administration were responsible for the mess.
According to Bii, the overseas programme was created to enable parents who did not have the ability to obtain bank statements or even bank accounts to support the visa application process.
He said that as part of the visa application requirements, six months’ accommodation in Finland, first semester fees and pathway studies must be paid for and proof of payment during the visa application process.
Bii said the first group of 202 students who went to Finland left Kenya between September 2021 and September 2022 with 111 going to Tampere University, Jvaskyla (25), while 66 went to Laurea University.
People Daily established that in the arrangement, each parent of the students managed to raise Sh1.19 million as school fees for the county government to ensure that they are placed at universities in Finland.
Semester fees
The parents also raised Sh100,000 (air ticket), three months accommodation (Sh80,000), insurance (Sh30,000), visa (Sh49,000) and Covid-19 certificates Sh5,000 but three months later cracks are emerging in the programme with many students risk being deported back to the country after the devolved unit failed to channel the money into the various universities accounts as per the agreement with the parents.
Documents in our possession indicate that fees for the second semester in other universities in Finland are due on March 31 while the due date for Tampere University has lapsed.
The assembly ad-hoc committee has recommended that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) conduct a probe into the matter.
The committee chaired by Gilbert Chepkonga (Olaare Ward) is also recommending the suspension of any new applications being received by the Department of Education for overseas programmes and continuing to facilitate students who had already paid fees and other essentials to travel to Finland to complete their studies.
