Not much may have been known about Kariuki Wanyoike, a Nakuru court clerk, but just as the rest of the county was paying close attention to a court case involving Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago, Mr Wanyoike managed to steal the spotlight from the senator with his "poor" Kiswahili translation.

His 15 minutes of fame came when it was time for him to read the charge sheet to Senator Mandago.

Before reading the charges, he turned to the accused and asked which language they would best understand when the charges were read to them.

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Mandago asked that the charges be read to him in Kiswahili. This left many perplexed as they had never expected the Senator to make such a request.

The magistrate agreed for the charges to be read in Kiswahili, saying that the Senator had the right to have the charges read to him in a language he understood best.

Mr Wanyoike appeared to be doing well until he was unable to translate the word 'overseas' on the charge sheet.

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He left the courtroom in tears when he said 'Nchi za majuu' instead of 'Nchi za ng'ambo'.

Senator Mandago is accused along with three others, Joshua Lelei and Meshack Rono, of conspiring to steal money meant for an overseas education programme for students from Uasin Gishu County.

Some 125 students from the county had their dreams of studying abroad shattered after county government officials handling the escrow account holding their funds failed to transfer them to the intended study institutions in Finland and Canada, leaving them stranded at home.

Last month, Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii said the county government was unable to refund the money demanded by parents because, in his words, the trust account had only Sh1.8 million.

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He blamed his predecessor, former governor and now Uasin Gishu senator Mandago, and asked him to explain what had happened to the money.

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Out of order: Nakuru clerk steals the show at Senator Mandago's case hearing

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Winnie Kimani