Hundreds of parents and students who had planned to disrupt the devolution conference, which is set to be officially opened by President William Ruto today, due to the botched Finland and Canada airlift education programme, have called off their mission just hours before the event’s start.
The decision to postpone the protest until after the devolution conference came after a night-long meeting on Saturday and Sunday between the county’s top leadership, led by Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii and Senator Jackson Mandago, and representatives of the affected parents and students.
Confirming the cancellation of the protests, Kimutai Kirui, who has been leading the protests to demand a refund of millions of shillings spent on the botched student programme, said they made the decision after two county leaders assured them that the Head of State had agreed to intervene in their plight.
In an interview with the media in Eldoret, Kirui, who was accompanied by parents and students, stated that the governor and senator assured them of the President’s commitment to address their concerns as soon as possible.
“Indeed, we held a night long crisis meeting with the Governor on Sunday and also the Senator called us for another meeting on Saturday where they impressed upon us to call off the planned demonstration on the day the President is set to open the devolution conference saying they were ready and willing to refund the money,” said Kirui.
He said that it was out of the respect they have for the Head of State that they talked to the parents and students to halt the planned protest which they agreed to anonymously yesterday.
Shadrack Juma, another affected parent, warned that they will resume the protests starting next Monday if their demands will not have been met by the regional government.
“We have decided to call of the planned demonstration at the Eldoret Sport Club where the Head of State is scheduled to grace the event now that we have been assured of the refund of millions we spend on the botched Finland and Canada airlift programme,” said Juma,
The cancellation of the protest is a big relief to the organizers of the five-day event.
Enraged parents had vowed to paralyze the event to protest against the alleged embezzlement of more than Sh800 million by a section of the Uasin Gishu county administration.
A team of sleuths from the Ethic and Anti-Corruption Commission and Directorate of Criminal Investigations from Nairobi have commenced a probe in the matter.
