Outgoing Kesses Member of Parliament, Mishra Kiprop, has addressed claims that he withdrew scholarships awarded to 300 students, who are members of his constituency.
In a post on his social media account on Friday, August 19, Mishra stated that the allegations are not true and urged the public to disregard them.
Reports had indicated that Mishra withdrew the scholarships after losing in the just concluded August 9 elections.
The outgoing MP, who became famous after offering scholarships, donating cows and paying medical bills for his constituents, stated that it would be very inhumane to do such a thing.
Mishra was born in Odiasha, Eastern India, and speaks fluent Kalenjin, but also calls Uasin Gishu, specifically Eldoret town, home.
In the just concluded poll, he lost the Kesses parliamentary seat to Uasin Gishu County official, Julius Ruto.
Ruto garnered over 30,000 votes while Mishra got slightly over 20,000, according to election results.
Mishra is known for starting ventures that helped his constituents. For instance, in 2018, he started a drive where he gave free cows to homes that do not own one in his constituency.
He stated that the initiative was part of his campaign pledge where he beat his rivals overwhelmingly in the only race that was won by a non-local in the whole of North Rift.
Through his Facebook account, Mishra wrote: "As I said earlier this process of issuing cows to my great people of Kesses will remain sustainable until all people without a cow get one. I am indebted. At our constituency office issuing cows."
He rose to popularity for generously contributing to community projects and waiving huge medical bills for patients admitted to his hospital.
One of his earlier campaign promises that also won him votes was declaring he would direct his salary to a special fund to cater for the residents’ needs.
Kesses constituency residents baptised him Kiprop arap Chelule so as to fit into the Kalenjin nation that praises him for being a generous man.
The outgoing Kesses MP also secured scholarships for his constituents to study in India.
He conferred letters of approval and air tickets for five of the beneficiaries set to pursue various courses in India, under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program.
ITEC is a scholarly exchange program which focuses on empowering people from across the world by undertaking quality education in leading institutions in India.
