Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago is facing accusations of witness intimidation in the KES 1.1 billion education scholarship case. The lawyer representing the affected families, Kemboi Kiptoo, expressed concerns, asserting that the senator has been involved in activities that may interfere with the court’s witnesses.
Mandago, along with two other county officials, Joshua Lelei and Meshack Rono, is being accused of conspiring to misappropriate KES 1.1 billion allocated for students’ scholarships in Canada and Finland. The trio allegedly attempted to withdraw the funds from a Kenya Commercial Bank account in Eldoret, registered under the Uasin Gishu Education Trust Fund, between March 1, 2021, and September 12, 2021.
Appearing virtually before Nakuru Senior Principal Magistrate Alloys Ndege, the attorney for the victims urged the court to expedite the case, highlighting concerns about Senator Mandago’s conduct potentially posing a threat and causing disruption.
“We must expedite the matter because the suspect, a person of influence, has been traversing the county in a manner that could tamper with the witnesses. Additionally, he has been making statements likely to intimidate both the complainants and witnesses in the case,” Kiptoo stated
The prosecution, led by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Hassan Abdi, dismissed these claims as unfounded, asserting that the state maintains control over the witnesses, and such concerns have not been formally raised with the prosecution.
“The Director of Public Prosecutions oversees the witnesses, and the counsel’s statements cannot override our position. He should approach us if he wishes to discuss these matters,” Abdi responded.
Senator Mandago is also facing separate charges related to the abuse of office. These charges allege that he unilaterally entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with various universities in Finland and Canada on behalf of the Uasin Gishu county government without the approval of the county assembly.
