Tag: mandango-news

Parents who were conned into paying for their children to study in Finland will be refunded more than Sh300 million.

The refund was agreed to by Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii and Senator Jackson Mandago after a meeting with affected parents and students.

The two leaders said that the money would be refunded because the programme had run into problems and those who paid were no longer interested.

“We have listened and we agree that there is nothing else you need but a refund,” Bii said.

Mandago said he had initiated the programme in good faith but regretted that had he known it would run into problems he would not have started it.

Both Mandago and Bii asked the parents to give them a week to come up with a way forward on the refund.

“Please give us time so that we go and discuss and come up with the way forward on the refunds as you have demanded. We cannot refund immediately as you are demanding because of the complications involved,” said Bii.

Bii and Mandago explained that much of the money owed to the parents had been used to pay for other students already studying in Finland and Canada but had not cleared their fees.

It was not clear where the money to refund the students would be sourced from.

The parents in debt have been asked to pay more than Sh94 million they owe for overseas education programme.

Present at the meeting were Uasin Gishu county commissioner Dr Eddison Nyale and Deputy Governor John Barorot.

Many of the parents and students affected by the programme wept before Governor Bii and Senator Mandago as they narrated their suffering because of the scam.

The two leaders had called the meeting over the scam. Most of the parents and their children could not hold back their tears of pain.

Emotions ran high as some of the parents narrated how they sold their property or used retirement benefits to pay for their children to study in Finland, only to be conned.

“I paid Sh2.5 million for my two children to go to Finland but two years down the line we are all at home rendered poor and suffering from depression,” said one of the parents, Edward Kiptek.

Some of the children who missed out on the programme went personal and wept as they accused some of county leaders of openly lying to them as they suffer.

They narrated how they had been tormented by Uasin Gishu county askaris for being outspoken in demanding for their rights.

“I am ready to die or be killed by the county askaris then you can send your child to come and read the eulogy at my funeral,” said one of the students.

After a four-hour meeting dominated by emotions, Bii and Mandago had few words to say only admitting that the problem was serious and the parents had to be refunded the money they paid.

Mercy Tarus, a recent Kabarak University graduate who earned notoriety for publicly reprimanding Uasin Gishu officials for the Finland education scam in a video, has now resorted to President William Ruto for assistance.

Ms. Tarus is pleading with the President to take action on the pressing issue.

On Monday, Mercy was heard disparaging Jackson Mandago, the senator from Uasin Gishu, Jonathan Bii, and deputy governor John Barorot. As she confronted the three most powerful county chiefs, many Kenyans praised her for her audacity.

Mercy asked President Ruto to stand up for the impacted pupils in a statement to Citizen TV on Wednesday during the parent and student protests in Eldoret town.She continued by asserting that Uasin Gishu County is dealing with a significant issue that need quick action.

“Please fight for us, Uasin Gishu is burning. It is burning, tunaungua, tunaumia, tuko na msongo wa mawazo, tunahitaji pesa zetu!

Hii serikali ilikuwa ya Hustler, sasa hustler ametafuta pesa yake hiyo kidogo yenye amepata. Kama mimi nauza uji. Nimeenda nimehustle nimepata pesa zangu kidogo za uji na mandazi nikuje nilipe nijaribu kutafuta maisha mazuri kwa ajili yangu alafu mtu anakuja kuchukua pesa zangu, watoto wake hawako Kenya wameenda majuu na sasa unanyamaza. Tafadhali, tafadhali rais wetu, usinyamaze. Kunaungua, tulikupigia kura, tunaomba utupiganie. Na ofisi yako tupiganie kabisa tunaumia.”

The complainant made it clear that she and the other complainants wanted their money back that they had contributed to the abandoned international education project.

She claimed that they had become weary of hearing the county authorities’ narratives and justifications for events every time they are questioned.

“I have heard stories since I first paid my money and I am tired of the stories. I am very tired of the stories. Hatukumuweka hapo ndio akuje atupatie stori, stori tunaweza pata mitandaoni. Tumechoka tunataka pesa yetu,”

For the past two days, Mercy has been trending on various social media sites as Kenyan netizens continue to praise her for the audacity with which she challenged Governor Bii, Mandago, and Barorot in a meeting on Monday.