• The three denied the charges. The case will be mentioned for pretrial on October 2.
• A fourth suspect, Joseph Maritim was not in court.
Image: LOISE MACHARIA
Senator Jackson Mandago on Thursday was released on Sh500,000 bail after he denied conspiracy to defraud the Uasin Gishu County Education Trust Fund of Sh1.1 billion when he was governor.
Mandago was charged alongside Meshack Rono and Joshua Lelei, who were county officials. They were all granted Sh2 million bond with the alternative of Sh500,000 bail.
The three were charged before Nakuru senior principal magistrate Peter Ndege.
The three denied the charges. The case will be mentioned for pretrial on October 2.
A fourth suspect, Joseph Maritim was not in court.
Maritim served as the chief officer for sports and culture during Mandago's tenure as Uasin Gishu governor.
The prosecution quickly amended the charge sheet and excluded Maritim's name to allow the three take a plea.
Maritim is said to have travelled to Canada on June 13 on a visitor’s visa.
The first count said they conspired to steal Sh1.1 billion from an account domiciled at the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) in Eldoret registered under Uasin Gishu Education Trust Fund meant for overseas university fees.
Rono and Lelei faced a second count of stealing Sh56.5 million from an account registered in the name of Uasin Gishu County Overseas Education Trust.
Lelei was further charged with stealing close to Sh5 million from the account between August 12, 2021 and September 12, 2022.
Mandago faced another charged of arbitrarily entering a memorandum of understanding between various universities in Finland and Canada on behalf of the county government without resolution and approval of the county assembly.
The former governor was also charged with arbitrarily secondment of county staff to a private entity namely Uasin Gishu Overseas Education Trust, thereby drawing salary from the county government which is prejudicial to the people of Uasin Gishu.
Rono and Lelei were further charged with forging a declaration and meeting minutes for Uasin Gishu County Education Trust.
The magistrate warned the accused against interfering with witnesses in the case, failing which their bond would be cancelled.