The Finland-Canada Scholarship Program scandal has taken a new twist as parents are now calling on the Judiciary to take charge and expedite the process of justice.
Distressed parents and students in the scholarship scandal are now calling on Chief Justice Martha Koome to take up the case and act swiftly, three years since it was petitioned.
The Finland-Canada scandal left more than 300 students stranded after their parents lost approximately Ksh749 million in what was promised to be a lucrative educational scholarship in the two foreign countries.
Under the scheme, the county government of Uasin Gishu was to act as guarantors to students in an arrangement with foreign universities and a local company, whereby families paid into a trust fund account.
Expressing their frustrations, the parents have revealed that it has been three years and they are yet to receive justice. They are worried that the leaders want to drag the case in court so that eventually it can be rendered redundant and they loose the money.
“We are decrying to Martha Koome, please help us here in Uasin Gishu, mostly, even before a case is recalled, they appeal it. When will we get the justice we deserve? Justice delayed is justice denied,” one of the parents decried.
Speaking during a press conference with the media in Uasin Gishu County on Wednesday, January 1, the parents revealed that some of them have been taken ill due to the frustrations tied to the money they lost.
According to the victims, they are now facing challenges of repaying loans they had taken to finance their children’s promised travel for studies abroad. Many of the parents are facing significant stress due to the financial and emotional toll of being defrauded.
The parents are now demanding accountability and the immediate return of their hard-earned money, lamenting the betrayal of trust by their leaders.
“The case has been delayed and been dragged for three years now. We are afraid that after some time, the case will be declared redundant, and that is what the leaders want—what will happen to our children, what will happen to our money?” the parents decried.
The scandal was exposed in September 2021 when a group of Kenyan students enrolled in universities in Finland since September 2021 faced expulsion from campuses and subsequent deportation. That was when it was revealed that the government was yet to pay for other students in Kenya.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE