Jobless Uasin Gishu Graduate Hailed For Putting Governor Bii, Mandago To Task Over Scholarship Saga

• The courage with which Mercy Tarus faced the Uasin Gishu county leaders endeared her to Kenyans
• Tarus is among the many scholars who were to fly overseas to further their studies after paying millions of shillings
• Kenyans have praised her for speaking truth to power on behalf of many others who have been affected the scandal

Uasin Gishu - A young lady, Mercy Tarus, stole the show during a forum in which the North Rift county leadership was meeting with parents over the Finland and Canada scholarship saga.

Governor Jonathan Bii and Senator Jackson Mandago availed themselves to face the wrath of parents and prospective students who committed themselves to the programs that have remained an illusion.

Knowing that she had to utilise the brief time allocated to her, the Kabarak University alumnae took on the leaders fiercely faulting them for taking their subjects for a ride.

At first, she put the governor and the senator on the spot for arriving for the meeting late despite their parents being there very early.

"First of all, you call us and our parents for a meeting. You set the meeting at 9:00am, at what time did you arrive? Probably you don't expect me to ask you the question, but these are people who elected you to serve them, I may seem foolish due to my age, but my grandfather has not eaten, and others are sick," she started off her reprimand.

Meanwhile, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) are conducting a probe into the scholarship scandal.

Also doing investigations are officers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

Uasin Gishu overseas scholarship scandal

Parents and guardians are said to have sold their property, including land and livestock, to raise the monies.

Despite their effort, those who had been picked to benefit from the program did not travel to take up their positions in the overseas institutions when the time was due.

Being blamed are Uasin Gishu governor Jonathan Bii and Senator Jackson Mandago.

The program was birthed during Mandago's tenure as governor.

Bii laid the blame on his predecessor while pointing to a KSh 138 million shortfall in the kitty set up for the program.

The governor explained that there were no monies to refund to the parents, but implied that would be done later after assessing the database that bears all the information.

According to the county's top brass, only KSh 1 million can be traced to the account.

On his part, Mandago sought to absolve himself of the saga, saying he handed over the program to the current administration.

Mandago said the monies left by the time he was leaving were upward of KSh 37.5 million, as opposed to the KSh 1 million the current administration claims to be in the account.

He also revealed that the students' locked accounts also had over KSh 67 million, leaving the balance at upward of KSh 104 million cumulatively.

Mandago further explained that by the time he was leaving, the beneficiaries had secured their slots in the Finish universities and were only awaiting their visas.