The MCAs endorsed an investigations report which recommended immediate suspension and prosecution of three top county officials involved in a programme to secure higher education opportunities in Finland.
The programme was coordinated by the county government during the regime of former Governor Jackson Mandago who is now the senator.
Governor Jonathan Bii in a statement on Sunday said the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission had taken up the probe.
The programme was initiated and signed for during the tenure of Mandago but Bii says it was run independently by a trust and that no public funds were used to fund the programme.
“This, therefore, means that no public funds were or will be appropriated to fund this programme,” Bii said in a statement.
He said 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.
The county acted as a guarantor for the students because of the requirements at the universities where they were to study.
Bii explained that as part of the requirement for visa applications, six months' accommodation in Finland, first semester fees, and pathway studies must be paid for and proof of payment attached during visa applications.
More than 200 students may have their courses terminated in Finland prematurely after the county failed to pay fees that were collected from parents.
Some of the universities where the students were enrolled have written letters threatening to send them back to Kenya if the money is not cleared
The county attorney and two senior officials in the Education ministry have been cited for abuse of office by the MCAs who carried out a probe into the scams.
An Adhoc committee which also probed the First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy Agency and the Finland Programme has tabled its recommendations at the county assembly.
Speaker of the assembly Philip Muigei said the committee after interrogating various stakeholders mentioned in the two programmes established that the petitions filed by the affected students were merited and that there was a contravention of the law.
“On the Finland issue, we have asked the executive and the employees who were involved or mentioned to step aside until a proper investigation by relevant agencies is carried out to determine what happened," Muigei said.
MCAs also recommended that the Finland programme should be stopped until all the issues raised are sorted out.
Concerning the First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy Agency the MCAs have asked the Inspector General of police to compel the agency to release the travel documents for the affected students which they have been holding for long.
“We have also asked the county government to revoke its business permit for the firm until all investigations are completed,” Muigei said.
Langas MCA who is also the vice chairman of the Adhoc committee Francis Muya said there were many irregularities in the two programmes where Kenyans were swindled millions of shillings.
“It’s improper that the Finland programme was not brought to the attention of the county education executive, the Cabinet, or even the county assembly for discussion and approval," Muya said.
He said few individuals at the county government used the programme to swindle money from innocent Kenyans.
“All those who were involved should face the full force of the law,” Muya said.
Hundreds of parents sold out their property, especially land to pay the costs of taking their children for the opportunities in Finland and Qatar.
In the First Choice matter, Muya said more than 8,000 youth who applied to go to Qatar for World Cup jobs lost more than Sh320 million.
The MCAs have accused police and provincial administration officials in Uasin Gishu of failing to act on the matter and behaving in a manner indicating that they had been compromised.
Chairman of the committee who is also Olare/Ainabkoi MCA Gilbert Chepkonga said the county assembly will make sure that all recommendations have been adhered to.
