Maasai Mara VC replaced following TV exposé on grand embezzlement of funds
Maasai Mara University Vice-Chancellor Prof Mary Walingo has been replaced following following an exposé by Citizen TV of grand embezzlement of funds at the institution.
Prof Walingo has been sent on a compulsory leave by the university counsel and the institution’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) in charge of Academic Affairs appointed to the position in an acting capacity.
MASSIVE SCANDAL
However, the DVC’s appointment has been met with opposition from a section of the university’s management who say the DVC was close to the former Vice Chancellor and might cover up for her.
The exposé titled, The Mara Heist, implicated Prof Walingo, as the alleged mastermind of the massive scandal that led to the embezzlement of Sh 190 million from the institution’s bank accounts.
Others implicated in the scandal is the university’s Finance Officer Anaclet Okumu and Prof Walingo’s driver Abdi Noor Hassan.
A day after the exposé, detectives from DCI spent the day at the University interrogating all those people who were mentioned in the story.
According to Citizen TV, on Wednesday the Vice Chancellor spent hours at the DCI and was released hours later.
She is expected back in Kiambu on Monday next week after she told the investigators that she needed more time to prepare the documents needed for the case.
WHISTLE BLOWERS
The two other accused persons are expected at the DCI headquarters on Thursday and Friday.
The scandal was exposed by whistle blowers within the institution led by Spencer Sankale, who served as the Acting Finance Officer before his demotion in August 2017.
In his shocking account, Mr Sankale laid bare the wanton corruption at the public university.
Mr Sankale Spencer furnished the investigative journalists with audio and video tapes made over a period of two years, which documented how the entire syndicate managed to siphon more than Sh190 million from the university’s accounts.
Mr Sankale and another whistle blower will also be interrogated by detectives who are investigating the case.