Mercy Tarus reacts to Senator Ledama’s job offer

 

Mercy Tarus, a young university graduate from Uasin Gishu who made headlines after taking the county leadership head-on over failed scholarship program, has turned down a job offer from Narok Senator Ledama Olekina.

Olekina had expressed his admiration for Mercy's boldness after a video of her lecturing Uasin Gishu County administration led by Governor Jonathan Bii, his deputy John Barorot and Senator Jackson Mandago went viral on Monday.

"Mercy Tarus I would like you to work for me… speak your heart …the future belongs to candid youth! Let’s talk," the outspoken senator said in a tweet.

But in a witty response on Thursday, Mercy insisted that all she wants, for now, is justice for hundreds of students stranded after their money was allegedly embezzled by the county leadership.

She asked the senator to lobby his colleagues to demand a refund of millions of shillings collected from the desperate young people before any talks regarding his job offer.

"Mr. Ledama, before we can further this conversation, Talk to your fellow Senators to bring the Uasin Gishu County Government to book and compel them to refund rightfully hard-earned money to the Citizens of Kenya. Maybe then, we can talk. Otherwise, I have nothing more to say," Mercy said in a tweet.

More than Ksh800 million is said to have been collected from parents in Uasin Gishu for the facilitation of the students' partial scholarships in Finland and Canada during the Financial Year 2021/22.

Successful applicants had been promised stable employment upon completion of their studies.

But despite parents remitting required funds through the county account, many students remain at home with some who had managed to travel abroad discontinued after alleged theft and diversion of money meant for their fees.

On Monday, Mercy and other affected students together with their parents held a charged meeting with the leadership at the County Hall.

Mercy accused the leaders of taking the victims in circles after pocketing their hard-earned money.

“I feel very foolish as I stand before you, considering that I’m very young. I came with my ailing grandfather who has not eaten anything since morning. Wapi watoto wa Bii, Mandago na Barorot hapa? (have you seen Bii’s, Mandago’s or Barorot’s children here?)” Mercy said.

She accused former Governor Mandago, under whose leadership the programme was launched, of dishonesty.

"You are very mean with the truth, you keep lying, you smile at us, with a very smooth tongue and a very soft face that looks like it's very innocent, but you keep on lying and lying," she lamented.

The Education graduate of Kabarak University narrated that she hoped to go to Australia for her further studies but had been forced to sell porridge by the roadside near her home in Marura after the airlift programme collapsed.   BY K24 NEWS