A few months after the Kenya Kwanza regime took over, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) withdrew most of the cases in which high-profile politicians were involved.
Several criminal cases against powerful individuals in government collapsed causing a backlash from some Kenyans.
Among the politicians whose cases were dropped are Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, and Cabinet Secretaries Aisha Jumwa, and Mithika Linturi over what DPP cited as a lack of sufficient evidence.
However, on Tuesday, August 22, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party warned relevant criminal justice agencies against dropping Uasin Gishu senator Jackson Mandago’s case.
“The Uasin Gishu airlift scandal serves as a stark reminder that the fight against corruption and fraudulent activities within the political realms is far from over as we saw it in a spate of withdrawal of high profile criminal cases and appointment into public positions of persons with questionable integrity,” the party said.
The former governor and two others, Joshua Lelei and Mishack Rono, are accused of siphoning KSh 1.1 billion from the Uasin Gishu Education Trust Fund, which was intended for overseas university fees for scholarship students.
In a statement, the party further called for a thorough and impartial investigation to uncover the truth and bring justice to the victims.
“As the nation grapples with the repercussions of this scandal, ODM calls upon the relevant criminal justice agencies to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation to uncover the truth and bring justice to the victims,” ODM said.
The political outfit heavily associated with opposition leader Raila Odinga said the student airlift scandal has exposed unscrupulous individuals to exploit the aspirations of innocent citizens for personal gains.
So far, Senator Mandago, Rono, and Maritim have been arraigned as hundreds of graduates affected and their parents demand refunds from the county government.
