Police in Nairobi are investigating how a
lecturer allegedly duped several students of USIU-Africa out of more than Ksh.10
million for a trip to the United Kingdom that never was.

The students who recorded statements at the
Kasarani Police Station allege that the said lecturer deceived and conned them
of their money through false pretenses in the name of an education trip in April
2024.

The lecturer in question was on Thursday
presented to court and police given 14 days to probe the matter and prefer
appropriate charges against him.

The students claim they were conned close to Ksh.10
million through false pretenses by someone whom they trusted, someone they
believed was their mento.

Sometime in November 2023, Moses Joshua
Onyango, who was the Chairman of the International Relations department,
allegedly informed them of the said trip to the United Kingdom. Each student
was to pay USD 3,000 (Ksh.386,485), an amount paid by some of the parents.

According to the complainants, 24 students
fell into the trap and parted away with the money. If each student paid USD 3,000,
this amounts to Ksh.10,872,000.

However, police say Onyango can only verify
having received close to Ksh.7 million from the students for the trip that
never was.

After the said amount was paid, either fully
or in installments, something unexpected happened; the trip was to take place
in April 2024, but it was postponed under unclear circumstances.

Students took up the matter with the school
and demanded answers in every way possible; they needed their tickets and a
confirmation of the traveling date.

In their quest to know what had transpired,
they were met with a rude shock. They found out that the trip had not been
sanctioned by the university.

In fact, the school had cancelled any plans
for the students to travel to the United Kingdom; a long journey to have their
money refunded began, but it was full of obstacles.

When their voices couldn’t be heard anymore,
they agreed to have the matter investigated by the police.

The distraught students say efforts to
address their grievances with the institution have not yielded much. Emails
have been sent to the dean of the university, but no feedback.

To their surprise, they have just learnt that
the lecturer has since been fired from the institution.

Citizen TV sought clarity from authorities at
USIU-Africa over the allegations, and the response was as follows;

“We are aware of the issues raised by some
students about a planned trip to the United Kingdom that aborted. We have taken
these concerns seriously and a comprehensive review of the situation is
underway. We will share further information with our stakeholders upon
completion of this process. To maintain the integrity of the investigation, we
will withhold comment until its conclusion. Regards,
Vice Chancellor.”

The lecturer had allegedly directed the
students to deposit the money in his personal bank account. He even went to the
extent of faking a travel itinerary just to ensure the students believed the
story.

Citizen TV met Moses Joshua Onyango while
being grilled by the police. After hours of waiting for his interrogation
process to be complete, we confronted him for a response into the allegations.

Investigators took him to the courts on
Thursday. The Makadara Law Courts ordered that he be released on a cash bail as
police probe the matter further.

Detectives want to investigate the said bank
account to see how much was deposited by the complainants, when the deposits
were made, and if there are other charges that can be incorporated to have the
accused prosecuted.