Parents of Kenyan students studying in universities in Finland under scholarships offered by the county government of Uasin Gishu will be required to pay the remaining fees for the program to continue.
In a statement, Governor Jonathan Bii Chelilim noted that part of the requirement for the enrolment of the program involved six months of accommodation, first semester fees had to be paid and proof of payment attached during visa applications.
He added that the program was run independently of county government operations by a trust- meaning that no public funds were allocated to the fund.
"The innovative idea was conceptualized to address youth unemployment, and the programmes were tailor-made for the requirements in Finland.
"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 statement read in part.
While responding to claims that a section of county government officials embezzled the funds, the governor noted that a task force was carrying out a forensic audit to ascertain the credibility of the reports.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) was also roped in the audit in a bid to investigate the whereabouts of the fund.
The parents of the students stranded in Finland intimated to the press that they had already paid for six months of accommodation and first semester fees and sought the county government to explain why their children risk deportation.
Governor Bii affirmed that the county government had reached out to Tampere University, Jvaskyla and Laurea Universities to negotiate for an extension of the fee due dates.
According to the governor, the parents of students based at Jvaskyla and Laurea had over three weeks to pay the fees as the campuses had set March 31, 2023, as deadline.
Tampere, on the other hand, declined to extend the February 28, 2023 deadline.
"They have ended the cooperation with Uasin Gishu County but have indicated that they were willing to continue with the program if the parents met their obligations," Bii noted.
The governor urged the parents to pay fees by the stipulated deadline for their students to continue with the programme.
The programme involved 384 students who were to be dispatched in four batches. Currently, the first group is the only batch that went to Finland between September 2021 and September 2022.
They are situated in three Finland universities as follows: Tampere University (111), Jvaskyla (25) and Laurea (66).
