Kenya Insights

Author: Kenya West

  • Why Lobby Group Want Appointment Of KeNHA DG Ndungu Revoked And Board Disbanded

    Why Lobby Group Want Appointment Of KeNHA DG Ndungu Revoked And Board Disbanded

    The appointment will of Eng. Kung’u Ndung’u as the new Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) Director-General has attracted both praises and criticism from stakeholders.

    In reference to our previous article where we elaborated how the appointment was just another of many scandalous appointments laced with nepotism from the Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia, a lobby group has come out to echo sentiments and reports raised in the piece.

    Concern Citizens Kenya is now challenging the conduct and the manner in which the whole process of appointing the New Director General at KenHA Engineer Kungu Ndungu was carried out.

    ”WE are reliable informed that the whole process of appointment from the declaration of Vacancy, advertisement of the vacancy to the interviews of the shortlisted candidates was allegedly flawed and that the board members were coerced into picking Engineer Kungu Ndungu who allegedly performed poorly during the interviews. This was
    compounded by threats to disband the board of KenHA by a senior ministry official on the strength that the board is Constitutionally not properly constituted should they not approve Engineer Ndungu as the new Director General.” Reads the statement seen by Kenya Insights.

    “We are also reliably informed and privy to the fact that the recruitment process was not
    compliant to the laid down rules, policies, regulations and guidelines as set out by the Board
    of KEnHA, That the whole recruitment process was shrouded in secrecy and non-disclosure of the
    persons who applied for the position of D/G and those shortlisted for the interviews which
    contravenes the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the right and access to Information held by the
    state or its agency.” It continues.

    According to sources speaking to Kenya Insights, About a month ago in the heights of intense lobbying for Ndungu, Eng. Wangai Ndirangu and Eng. Kung’u Ndung’u organized two covert retreats for friendly road contractors in Nairobi and Mombasa whereby it’s alleged a hefty amount of money was collected from the contractors to go to some unknown course, bearing in mind that a succession process was ongoing, your guess is as good as mine. It is understood that contractors were promised unwarranted access to lucrative contracts under the leadership of the new DG. We also understand that the “Wangai-Mundinia team” had the full backing of Infrastructure CS James Macharia.

    The team roped in the services of a powerful and influential Office of the President Principal Administrative Secretary (PAS). The Mathioya-born man is feared for his ruthless efficiency in bulldozing and having his way concerning state appointments, his influence dates back to President Mwai Kibaki’s days, he is known as Mr Fix-it by his OP peers.

    The outgoing Ag DG Eng David Muchilwa had vested interests that raised eyebrows. Never in the history of the country has an outgoing head of a government agency or department developed such overt interest in who succeeds him. However, our investigation has confirmed that a trail of blatant theft, open corruption and tribalism in the hiring of staff characterized the tenure of the outgoing holder of the office of DG at KeNHA. Souses say the outgoing DG is determined to ensure he’s properly covered by his successor; Eng. Ndung’u incidentally, was the outgoing DG’s preferred natural successor.

    Among the shortlisted candidates for the DG position were Engineer Sidai(KPA), Acting DG Engineer David Muchilwa, Engineer Charles Obuon(Special Projects) Engineer Rashid(KURA), Engineer James Gatitu(KeNHA Compliance Director), Engineer Francis Gitau(NAMATA DG), Engineer Kung’u(Director Assets), Engineer Aketch(Private Sector).

    Appointment of Ndungu came at a backdrop of intense lobbying in controlling the lucrative docket that is marred with corruption and scandals from kickbacks. Many senior engineers feel the process was flawed and Ndungu was the least qualified candidate.

    “CS Macharia must never be allowed to DESECRETE the engineering profession! We the professionals have upheld without defeat the highest integrity values in honor of this sacrosanct profession! Please stop using strange excuses to perpetuate tribalism in this profession!” Eng. Omari Harrison said.

    “At KENHA (a young kikuyu engineer, Kungu Ndungu-a toddler professional by all accounts,has ‘beaten’ all competitors to emerge top & therefore he’s the new DG!!!The previous DG was also a Kikuyu! In this honorable profession, CS Macharia should stop the naked tribalism!”

    Another source talking to Kenya Insights confided, “Kungu Ndungu was the least qualified engineer at KeNHA. He doesnt have a masters in Engineering and his degree is being contested in court. He was appointed due to kickbacks he was sending up. Notably in the Dongo Kundu projects, the roads have deteriorated and retention walls collapsed due to coners being cut. Now kickbacks coming through from Fujita corporation building phase 2 via Machiri. Once Kungu Ndungu was transferred to Nairobi, Machiri received contracts for Expressway where Ndungu was in-charge.”

    Concern Citizens Kenya has raised exact issues on the suitability of Ndung’u based on his academic questionable credentials.

    “IT is important to note that prior to his appointment as the Director General Engineer
    Ndungu was the Director Road Assets and corridor Management at KenHA a position which
    was contested by a section of Human rights fraternity in Kenya on his suitability and
    ACADEMIC qualification at the high court of Kenya in a case file number E/58/2021 by the Commission of Justice and Human Rights and the matter is live and active at the high court in Kenya. We are therefore surprised to see a person whose capacity and academic qualification are subject to a court process is being approved for appointment and elevated to a higher office of the Director General by the CS James Macharia under unclear circumstances.”

    The lobby group has given the CS a 7 days notice “Having shown contempt and incompetency in the management of the state agency, KenHA
    which is tasked with Multi Billion Dollars infrastructure projects in Kenya and for fear of
    losing our money to incompetent managers at KenHA Board, the Director General Kungu
    Ndungu and the ministry of Transport under CS James Macharia,” to revoke the appointment of Ndung’u, dissolution of KeNHA board, resignation of KenHA board of Directors as the board is unconstitutional as it is currently constituted making them prone to manipulation and coercion as it is currently happening and are also seeking for the resignation as the CS Transport for failure to show leadership and to properly guide the board of KeNHA.

    With the appointment clouded with secrecy and perhaps efforts to seal off the big questions and paint a saint picture of Ndung’u, KeNHA went on an extreme PR drive sponsoring news items on local media to paint him as the saint. A clever move to keep the public eye out of focus on the scandalous appointment.

    A sponsored article on a local daily newspaper singing praises for the DG Ndung’u.

    This isn’t the only appointment by tribal chief CS Macharia that has been challenged, barely a month ago, the Employment and Labour Relations Court overturned the appointment of three board members of the Nairobi Metropolitan Transport Authority (NAMATA) citing ethnic dominance.

    In that particular ruling, Justice Nzioki wa Makau said the appointment of Mary Chege, Zachariah Mungai and Ronald Ndegwa on February 5 was “unconstitutional, unlawful and thus void ab initiofor the wanton disregard to the national values espoused in the Constitution.”

    “The interested parties subject of this suit (Chege, Mungai and Ndegwa) are all from one ethnic community and do not represent the diverse fabric that is the Kenyan nation. Their appointment therefore smacks on the evils of old which Kenyans opted to do away with in the Constitution we took on for ourselves in 2010,” Justice Makau ruled.

    NAMATA is tasked with among other things the oversight of an ambitious Sh5.6 billion Nairobi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system which is part of an initiative to ease traffic congestion in the capital.

    The Law Society of Kenya, the petitioner, had argued that the appointments of Chege, Mungai and Ndegwa were made in violation of key tenets of law including public participation.

    The petitioner also told the court that the appointments failed to conform to Article 10 of the Constitution on national values and principles of governance which include social justice, inclusiveness, equality, transparency, accountability, human rights, non-discrimination and fair administrative action.

    LSK further argued equal rights – including the right to opportunities in the political, economic and social spheres – guaranteed to all citizens under Article 27 were infringed.
  • Corruption: How Dubai Firm DP World Plots To Fraudulently Secure Control Of Walvis Bay Port

    Corruption: How Dubai Firm DP World Plots To Fraudulently Secure Control Of Walvis Bay Port

    NAMIBIA: The 2019 Fishrot scandal was a moment of epiphany for many Namibians; a coming to terms with the unpleasant reality that Namibia’s public service has been a hotbed for corruption for many years. And the recently hatched Walvis Bay Port syndicate indicates that, that unfortunate reality remains the status quo. In 2019, DP World, a Dubai-owned port operator, under the aegis of Sultan Bin Sulayem, with support from the former Transport Executive Director, Willem Goeimann orchestrated a plan to gain control of the newly constructed N$4.2 billion Walvis Bay container terminal through a direct agreement for a period of 50 years.

    DP World’s strategy included extending unwarranted generosity to several Namibian decision makers, some of whom were completely oblivious of their true intent; to avoid a competitive process that would most probably undercut their chances of controlling this strategic asset. To bypass Namibia’s procurement laws and justify a direct agreement, DP World’s agents pushed for a largely farcical Government-to-Government agreement between UAE and Namibia, which was a mere smokescreen, hiding DP World’s real motive. This deception was clearly manifested when they signed an MOU with Nara Namib to develop a Free Economic Zone in Walvis Bay.

    Notwithstanding their well-orchestrated scheme, in a real show of patriotism, a number of government officials and members of the Board of Directors of Namport turned down DP World’s direct agreement proposal. It was considered dangerous and inimical to the interest of Namibia. Following the rejection of DP World’s direct agreement proposal, the expectation from all stakeholders, both local and international, was that the Government of Namibia would revert to the due process by instituting a fair and transparent tender process to award the concession of the strategic Walvis Bay Container Terminal, in the interest of the Namibian people.

    Alas, doing something as noble as that would have been completely out of character for the current Namibian government. Instead, it was Sultan bin Sulayem, the senior management of DP World and their local associates that quickly adapted to the new situation and came up with a new plan to achieve their unscrupulous agenda.

    Under the pretext of a transparent process facilitated by the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) run by the capable CEO (some would say pawn) Nangula Uaandja, invitations for the Expressions of Interest (EOI) were sent out to a large number of potential operators, selected by NIPDB. However, this was just a ruse to give the impression that the country’s procurement laws are being complied with. Several sources disclosed that DP World managed to influence and manipulate the evaluation criteria in such a manner that it will disqualify all other offers save theirs and those of sister companies. They simply managed to get NIPDB to combine three different components (container terminal, free zone and a custom’s single window), which in reality requires completely different skills and criteria, under the fancy marketing name of “Walvis Bay Industrial Development Initiative (WIDI”).

    Combining these components will most likely prove detrimental to the country, but it seems no one made the effort to analyse it in detail. The process was structured in such a way that only the Government of Dubai, which owns DP World, Jebel Ali Free Zone and the Dubai customs, could comply with the selection and evaluation criteria. All the other companies were only invited to legitimise the process and make it look transparent and credible. With that pseudo legitimacy, NIPDB, which has ultimate control over the process, will be able to evaluate the proposals against the selected criteria, eliminate the rest of the companies and enter into direct negotiations with DP World.

    In a blatant disregard and contravention of the laws of Namibia, Namport, which according to the Namibian Ports Authority Act, 1994 is the only authority that has jurisdiction over the port of Walvis Bay, was completely excluded from the process.

    Sources close to Namport intimated that it had been engaging a number of potential partners who were prepared to offer much better terms than DP World yet; their hands are tied as a result of the processes that are being facilitated by NIPDB. As a result, the road is clear for DP World to gain control of these critical and vital assets at the expense of Namibia and its people. Institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank (who financed the construction of the container terminal) should step in and make sure that their assistance and contributions are serving the people of Namibia and not DP World, a company owned by the Government of Dubai.

    It seems as if there is no end when it comes to Namibia’s strategic resources and unscrupulous foreign opportunists. As with the Fishrot saga, all you need is the opportunity, an architect to draft the master plan, a local agent that knows how to manipulate the system, a few key officials and the unscrupulous foreign investor to exploit Namibia and deprive it of real economic development.

    One would think that President Geingob and his government would by now have resolved to do everything in their power to avoid another N$ billion corruption scandal, which could undermine his and the ruling party’s credibility, but alas, they remain unperturbed. They remain so even as the scourge of corruption continues to ravage the lives of ordinary Namibians.

  • KPA Risks Losing Sh1.3B As Officials Go Against Board’s Decision For Overpayment Recovery

    KPA Risks Losing Sh1.3B As Officials Go Against Board’s Decision For Overpayment Recovery

    The more things change, the more they remain the same and getting the monkey to a different forest doesn’t change its behaviors. Kenya Ports Authority, one of the most powerful parastatals in the country and most sort after by hungry wolves given them attractive lucrative deals it comes with is not new to scandals.

    Here men fight sweat and blood to win strategic positions in controlling the operations and finances of the port. There’s almost no single senior official from the MDs in the past decade who has gone through the wire unscathed, it’s the seabed of corruption.

    Due to rampant corruption, the state firm in tight grip of cartels has steadily been making avoidable loses.

    In a March memo seen by Kenya Insights, the authority’s board had flagged stalled civil engineering projects to recover questionable funds in respect of rehabilitation of slipways, railways; rehabilitation of electrochemical workshop, rehabilitation of marine afloat workshops, rehabilitation of boat functions amongst other expenses with invoices totaling to Sh82.5M. However, it was determined that this had formed part of ongoing invoices totaling Sh 812.2M. Since some of the projects were affecting deliverables in the dockyard, the payments were partly okayed but was to be done on priority basis.

    In this respect, KPA engineers were to determine whether the prioritized projects had value for money before payments are made. Uncertified works amounted to Sh785M.

    The board also realized an overpayment of Sh380.8M from identified contractors and approved recovery.

    In a consultative meeting between the management including the GM infrastructure development , head of civil engineering and procurement, it was recommended that pending uncertified works amounting Sh785M was to be recertified and only those with value for money approved. Coincidentally, the same KPA engineers who had worked in certification for the same firms were also running the same exercise which left open many loopholes to manipulate them by similarly corrupt contractors.

    It was agreed that overpayment recovery be prioritized and no new works should be paid for until Sh380M is recovered.

    In an April internal memo signed by the Head of Civil Engineering, Eng. Samuel Mwaura, contract for mamufaction of concrete barriers and excavation and concreting of Makongeni goods yard was earmarked for recovery of the overpayment.

    Despite the board’s and committee’s recommendations of withholding further payments until overpayments are recovered and stalled projects fully completed, it has now emerged that new works are getting approved throwing questions on what the management could be upto,  Eng. Mwaura has been criticized for using the same KPA engineers for the cosmetic reevaluations while things remain the same. How can the head of civil engineering , head of procurement and supplies Cosmas Makori go against the committee’s directive not to approve more projects while the company is suffering loses in overpayment and stalled projects generating loses.

    Makori who’s currently on self induced leave, is a man under scrutiny with lobby groups in the dock now asking the DCI and EACC to initiate an investigative review of the running of the port as more could be brewing in the already dirty pot of the port. It becomes a grand issue when state officials fail to protect public funds from being misused and lost to dubious deals and contractors.

    As seen in other failed corporations, rogue state officials tend to cut deals with equally rogue contractors and rip off the public funds.

  • First Community Bank On The Spot For Breach Of Contract Charging Interest Against Islamic Banking Contract

    First Community Bank On The Spot For Breach Of Contract Charging Interest Against Islamic Banking Contract

    First Community Bank(FCB) has been put on spot by one of its client for breach of contract and charging interest against Islamic Financing Agreement,(Musharaka).

    In regard to this, a Nairobi court has suspended its decision to sell the remaining 15 disputed apartments developed by Isaac’s Investment Company.

    High court Judge Ngenye Macharia has referred the dispute between the company and the bank to an arbitrator.

    “On account that the bank has already sold the greater chunk of the Investors’ property speaks volume that the bank may have substantively recovered its debt, the court should preserve the remaining property pending the resolution of the dispute by the tribunal, “ruled Lady Justice Ngenye.

    She added that the dispute revolves around the amount owed to the bank or whether the investor has overpaid. Ngenye ruled that if the court does not preserve the property, it implies that the bank will sell the remaining units at risk of recovering more than it is entitled.

    “It is also notable that the bank failed from the outset to demonstrate what amount of debt is owed by the investor by way of bank statements, it is only fair to allow parties to solve the dispute in a manner agreed upon and in the meantime, the remaining units are preserved, “ruled Ngenye.

    The matter was filed by Isaac’s Investment Company at Milimani Commercial and Tax Division on December 10,2020.

    Through lawyer Benson Nzakyo, it was seeking orders stopping the bank from selling a security property located in Dagoretti/Riruta, Nairobi until further orders of an Arbitration tribunal or court.

    “My client is seeking direction that the arbitrator to be appointed by both parties which should be competent with sharia laws in view of the unique nature of the finance agreement signed between parties, “added Nzakyo in court document.

    The motion was supported by an affidavit from the director of the investment company Ali Isaac who is the owner of that property which is developed and containing 90 apartments.

    Ali says that the main objective for which FCB bank is established is to carry out strict compliance with the principles of Islamic Sharia Laws and should not charge any interest on the principal amount lent, deposited or borrowed by customers.

    “On November 7,2011, Ali and FCB signed a letter and he was advanced Sh 36 Million as finance to construct phase 1 of the project, “added Nzakyo.

    The letter indicated that if any dispute would arise, it shall be referred to arbitration by a single arbitrator to be appointed mutually by both parties.

    Ali says that by December 23,2012 the banking facilities granted to him were increased to Sh 210 Million and a further charge document dated January 28,2013 was executed between both parties.

    He added that later his shares were reduced from 20 percent to 14 percent.

    The aggrieved businessman says that, the bank advertised the suit property for sale via public auction. Ali moved to court to stop the sale of the remaining 19 apartments within the security property and the suit was withdrawn on November 30,2021.

    Ali filed another suit after realizing that the bank was actively marketing the remaining 19 apartments

    “My client stands to suffer substantial loss not only because the bank has contravened various provisions of the agreement but has also recovered Sh 380Million out of advancement of Sh245 Million and Ali believes that he has fully paid the advanced loan together with share profits that the bank was entitled to under Musharaka Finance Agreement, “added Nzakyo.

    The bank in response through an affidavit filed by its lawyer Claris Ogombo said that an application by Ali is not based on facts and is an abuse of court process.

    “The applicant defaulted in its obligation prompting the bank to institute recovery proceedings through  a letter dated September 12,2017 where he committed to pay Sh 120 Million which was to be paid from yet another project of Sh 500 Million proposed for the construction of 560 units which was to be constructed on another land that he will purchase but the bank rejected that proposal, “she added.

    She added that the bank sold 15 units and the application before court is improper because it has been dealt with to conclusion.

    Ogombo wanted the court to dismiss Ali’s application saying that it was meant to delay the sale of the remaining units.

    “The applicant was to avail 15 apartments but did not which means that the bank sold them without a consent of the two parties, it is therefore improper for the bank to impute terms that were never agreed upon in consent, this dispute remains unresolved as it was not addressed in consent, “ruled Ngenye.

    Ali says that the bank recovered in excess of what is under agreement. The bank does not dispute that it wants to recover its money without other reason than to say that it has statutory reasons to do so.

    He says he is concerned of how many Muslims fall victim to this so called Islamic Banking which is not anything but dangerous Shylock.

  • Jinxed: How 9 Lost Their Lives In Kilimani Horror Crane Accident And Qwetu’s Line Of Tragedies

    Jinxed: How 9 Lost Their Lives In Kilimani Horror Crane Accident And Qwetu’s Line Of Tragedies

    Nine construction workers were crushed to death, and another slightly injured, on Thursday after a tower crane collapsed at a construction site in Nairobi’s Hurlingham area.

    The victims, including two Chinese men, were in a group of ten workers dismantling the crane after concluding exterior painting works before it suddenly collapsed.

    The horror accident, which happened at a Qwetu hostels site, occurred shortly after 12.30 pm causing people to flee in panic and confusion as they tried to comprehend the disaster.

    The 14-storey students’ hostel, which is nearing completion opposite the Department of Defence headquarters in Hurlingham, is owned by Acorn Holdings.

    70 metres

    Eyewitnesses said they heard people screaming for help only to see the crane speedily tumbling down with its human cargo – from a height of about 70 metres above the ground.

    “We were having lunch when we heard things falling and thought part of the building was coming down,” said Michael Odhiambo, a 27-year-old construction worker.

    “When we got there, we found a crane had snapped and tumbled down,” he said, adding that nine of the workers died on the spot while one technician escaped with slight injuries.

    It was a disturbing scene as nine badly mutilated bodies lay on the ground.

    Full investigation

    ZJCC Engineering and Construction Company, the Chinese firm undertaking the project, sent condolences to the affected families offering a full probe into the incident.

    “We have since sealed off the site and are collaborating with the Kenya Police Service and the Directorate of Occupational Safety & Health Services (DOSHS) in conducting further investigations into the incident,” the company said in a statement.

    Preliminary findings indicated that part of the giant tower crane collapsed during its decommissioning, killing nine technicians – seven Kenyans and two Chinese.

    This is the second fatal incident involving a Qwetu hostel project in five months.

    Two workers died

    In March, Acorn suspended construction at its project on Thika Road near the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) after two workers died in a site accident.

    The project – Qwetu Aberdare Heights – was 70% complete at the time of the incident.

    After four weeks of investigation, the National Construction Authority and the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services allowed the contractor, Wadia Construction Company, to resume work on site.

    Details on the findings of the investigation were not released to the public.

    Known for its purpose-built student hostel brands Qwetu and Qejani, Acorn has the largest purpose-built student housing portfolio in Sub Saharan Africa at over 3,000 units.

    The company, which has raised more than Sh8.5 billion for student accommodation projects, is currently working towards the delivery of additional 7,000 units.

  • KNH Woes Blamed On CEO Kamuri’s Mismanagement As Staff Deaths Increases

    KNH Woes Blamed On CEO Kamuri’s Mismanagement As Staff Deaths Increases

    So the issue of lack of oxygen in KNH, that was previously highlighted, is now taking a new turn. Everyone in the hospital is complaining and questioning why the situation has to exist in KNH at a time like this when oxygen is highly needed the most in the hospital. Staff continue to die in large numbers still. “The management remains arrogant about the happenings. It’s only God who can help at this stage.” Says staff talking to Kenya Insights.

    According to information received from the staff, some of the key issues crippling the National Hospital.

    Three issues unfold:

    a. Doctors’ strike

    There has been misreporting by KNH management to paint a bad picture to the doctors who are pursuing their masters in UoN, and study as they work in KNH. Senior doctors in the hospital are unhappy with how the institution is run. Some have even resigned.The CEO takes issues so personal and arrogantly and if he happens not to like you, or if you seem firm in your doings then he starts to fight you from nowhere. He is currently running the institution as his own house where no one should query anything and if you do then he assumes you don’t want to support him. He’s been heard severally saying so loudly that nothing can be done to him na mkitaka endeni mahali mnataka. He once told doctors to go to hell with their complaints.

    “For those who may not be aware, Kamuri has three wives, THREE girlfriends,  and several clandes, all of them employees of KNH, which could be the reason why he sometimes mistakes the hospital for his house/bedroom. The numbers increase every time there is an employment opportunity in KNH.” Letter to Kenya Insights reads.

    “He micro manages HR and supplies departments to a point where the people incharge of the dockets are just puppets and toys who just act according to the instructions from THE MIGHTY. Several senior doctors have been threatened and others demoted just because of their stand in quality service delivery and firmness on how things should be done. The boss thrives in shortcuts.” It continues.

    The truth of the matter is the doctors have been having meetings to see how KNH can improve their services and find a way out on how the issue of lack of oxygen which has increased deaths so abnormally can be sorted. They blamed the management for the increased deaths and advised them to take proper measures so as to make sure that the issues don’t continue. The management instead turned against them and immediately and arrogantly terminated their contracts without even following the HR procedures. This is the same thing that happened to madam Mugambi, the former director of nursing who disagreed with him and was dumped to the ministry among others. It’s the trend.

    b. Lack of a Board of Management

    KNH currently doesn’t have a board of management. The term of the previous board members expired and they are yet to be replaced. It’s only the chairman who is in office since his term started later than the others. This has brought a serious gap in the management since there is no one to oversee what these cartels are doing. The chairman of the board has been termed as a weak one and one who cant querry anything.

    “He sees and hears what is happening but does totally nothing. At this time the business is taking up more hospitals so that the pool of money to fetch from is increased. The union also is quiet and in sleep mode.” Reads the long complaints.

    c. Lack of insurance cover for staff

    KNH has currently lost many staff to covid. A bigger reason being the issue of lack of oxygen. Even with this, HR and the management are acting very insensitive and inhumane. When the dependents ask for compensation, they are told to wait. Since the start of July, the dependents whose relatives have died cannot and have not been compensated. Two months down the line and to add salt to the injury, they are told by HR that they don’t know when the payment can be done since the hospital doesn’t have insurance cover for the staff. This has been the highest level of negligence. On enquiring further, you are told procurement has not awarded the tender and so there are no insurance covers. This is the third month of such and every day those guys are buying new cars and houses without minding the most sensitive matters of staff and patients honestly. At this point it’s only God who can help.

    The arrogance and ignorance is majorly because they enjoy protection from the ministry bosses. Procurement department now says they are handling the matter and reliable sources have informed staff that the matter of insurance has a corruption case that is under investigation and the management is busy lobbying and dishing money to silence the case. Every employee is worried about what could happen to them or their dependents incase of the worst.  Procurement and HR departments are the worst run in KNH. Because that’s where all the loopholes exist. They’ve made sure they don’t follow the law. Kamuri is the law. Karma will hit them the worst.

  • Data Breach: Law Firm Want Radisson Blu Investigated For Invading Privacy By Leaking Guests Records To The Media

    Data Breach: Law Firm Want Radisson Blu Investigated For Invading Privacy By Leaking Guests Records To The Media

    When it rains, it pours. A Lawyer has filed a PIC with the data protection commissioner with regards to a potential data breach of the records of hotel guests of Radisson Blu Hotel & Residence, Nairobi Arboretum, Nairobi, Kenya (Radisson) on August 3, 2021.

    In the heat of deputy President William Ruto getting blocked from traveling to Uganda on a scandalous private visit, it emerged that in his entourage was a Turkish citizen Harun Aydin who apparently is a terror suspect. It would be later told that the Turkish has been on intelligence watch.

    Ruto has apparently brokered a deal with Turkish investors led by Aydin and a Ugandan partner to put up a COVID-19 vaccine plant in Uganda. Intelligence grabs suspected this was a full throttle money laundering scheme hence the rush to put a lid in it.

    It was later reported that Aydin had been arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, in October 2001 on charges of “having planned serious acts of violence as a member of a terrorist group with an Islamic fundamentalist background”.

    As events unfolded, it became public that Aydin had been staying in Kenya.

    24/06/2021 Turkish national Harun Aydin checked into Nairobi’s Radisson Blu Hotel, for face value he was just any other guest and maintained that low profile for weeks until Monday 2nd when he’ll broke lose and his cover blown.

    After the news broke, the businessman quickly checked out of a Radisson Blu Hotel where he had been staying since June. It was not immediately clear who checked him out.

    It emerged that Immigration officials had stormed the hotel seeking to question the man who has been linked to terrorism.

    Under unclear circumstances, a guest list from Radisson Blu Hotel detailing the profiles of guests to oust Aydin was leaked to the public through bloggers.

    It is this leakage of the guest list that included not only details of Aydin the man in focus but names, rooms and check out information of other 34 guests that is now putting the hotel in trouble. Prow & Company advocates want the hotel to be investigated and held responsible for evading privacy of guests.

    “This is insufferable, inconsiderate, contumelious, and opprobrious behavior that wanton to disregard the privacy of hotel guests in Kenya and more specifically Radisson Blu Hotel in order to score short lived perceived political wins.” Reads the letter seen by Kenya Insights.

    “We believe that this is a serious data breach by Radisson Blu Hotel and infringement of the rights to privacy of all Radisson visitors whose private details have been illegally published/leaked. The leaked information, indicates a serious non-committal or willful ignorance of the data privacy protection laws by Radisson.” Part of the letter reads.

    Coming at a time when Kenya is struggling to hold up from the consequences of the pandemic that has slammed the economy, the firm raised a concern on the effects a move like Radisson’s would have on tourism. “The ministry of tourism and Wildlife should treat this matter as a serious national threat to the already ailing tourism industry.” It states.

    “It cannot be gainsaid that the duty of any hotel is the protection of the guest’s privacy, as it is sacrosanct expression of respect, dignity, and psychological integrity of the guests.”

    Indeed the hotel staff is obliged to discreetly protect the guests’ and private data through limited access to the cupboard at the reception desk, inserted passwords on their computers, guests’ data inaccessibility by the unauthorized persons, avoid loud pronouncing of the guest room numbers at key delivery and not revealing name of the guest, address and room number. As such, any information leak connotes serious connivance on the part of the staff and third parties. Imagine a situation where your hotel information is availed to your enemies who won’t hesitate to cause harm? The eventualities are unimaginable.

    The Constitution of Kenya guarantees the right to privacy as a fundamental right. To give effect to this constitutional right under Article 31(c) and (d), the Data Protection Act, 2019 (‘the Act’) was enacted and came into effect on 25 November 2019. The Act has been implemented and progress towards implementation started in November 2020 with the appointment of the Data Protection Commissioner (‘the Commissioner’). As of the date of publication, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is in the process of setting up operations. A key action the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has taken, through the ICT Advisory Committee on COVID-19, was the development of the Guidance Note on Access to Personal Data During COVID-19 Pandemic (‘COVID-19 Guidelines’). The COVID-19 Guidelines were put out for public and stakeholder participation on 12 January 2021, and closed on 9 February 2021. Upon implementation, the COVID-19 Guidelines are expected to provide a policy guidance on processing personal data to actualise responses to and research on the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Harun Aydin on anti-terror Police custody.

    On 15 January 2021, the ICT Cabinet Secretary appointed the Taskforce for the Development of the Data Protection General Regulations, with a term of six months, whose mandate includes development of the data protection regulations, auditing of the Act, identification of gaps or inconsistencies in the Act, and proposing any new policy or legal and institutional framework that may be needed to implement the Act, as well as other tasks related to the full implementation of the Act.

    The constitution of Kenya 2010 provides at article 31 ‘that every person has the right to privacy, which includes the rights not have-(a) their person, home or property searched; (b) their possessions seized;(c) information relating to their family or private affairs unnecessarily required or revealed or (d) the privacy of their communication infringed.

    The Data Protection Act of 2019 which was assented to by the President of the Republic of Kenya on 08 November 2019 (the “Act“).

    The Act brings into play comprehensive laws that protect the personal information of individuals. It establishes the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, makes provision for the regulation of the processing of personal data, provides for the rights of data subjects and obligations of data controllers and processors.

    The Commissioner’s office is mandated with overseeing the implementation of the Act together with establishing and maintaining a register of data controllers and data processors; receiving and investigating any complaints on infringements of the rights under the Act; carrying out inspections of public and private entities with a view to evaluating the processing of personal data; imposing administrative fines for failures to comply with the Act, amongst other functions.

    Privacy laws are more relevant today than ever before. With data crossing borders following the increased internet penetration and increased use of social media and other digital information platforms, it is becoming more important to ensure that personal data is protected, processed and used for the correct purpose. While these protection laws are (sometimes) good news for those who have data stored or transferred online, it may not be so for those who have to navigate this mass of regulation.

    The lack of a data privacy law previously has been an enormous lacuna in Kenya’s digital rights landscape. With the new law in operation, those violating the law face a maximum fine of 3 million shillings ($29,283) or two years in jail.

    ”Notably, Radisson has compounded duty of notification and communication breach under article 43 of the act which provides that, “where personal data has been acquired by unauthorized person, and there’s a real risk of harm to the data subject whose personal data has been subjected to the unauthorized access, a data control shall-(a) notify the data commissioner without delay within 72 hours of becoming aware of such breach.”

    As of the date of publication, Radisson was yet to make any public statement in respect to the open data breach that was internally orchestrated.

    The lawyer now want the hotel to be slapped with a Sh5 million fine for the breach or in the case of an undertaking, up to one per centum of its annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is lower.

    The ball is now in the commissioner’s court and one of the crucial cases that will have serious ripple effect and most guest of not only Radisson Blu Hotel but larger tourism sector will be paying attention to as far as their privacy is guaranteed.

    As for Radisson guests, there’s much to worry about your privacy as of the latest developments. As the letter signs out, “press play” we await the results.

  • Kenyan Law Firm Okatch And Partners Advocates Named In The Sh1.1B Heist By Nigerian Scammer Hushpuppi

    Kenyan Law Firm Okatch And Partners Advocates Named In The Sh1.1B Heist By Nigerian Scammer Hushpuppi

    A Kenyan law firm was used in the multimillion heist orchestrated by indicted Nigerian scammer Hushpuppi.

    A federal grand jury indictment unsealed this week alleges an elaborate scheme to steal more than $1.1 million from a businessperson attempting to finance the construction of a school for children in Qatar – and the subsequent laundering of illicit proceeds through bank accounts around the world.

    The three-count indictment returned on April 29 and unsealed Monday charges three U.S.-based defendants who were arrested last week – as well as three defendants believed to be in Africa – with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.

    The criminal complaint that initiated the prosecution in February was also unsealed Monday, revealing that Ramon Olorunwa Abbas – also known by his social media handle of “Ray Hushpuppi” – was initially charged in this case. Court documents ordered unsealed today show that Abbas, a 37-year-old Nigerian national, pleaded guilty on April 20. A version of Abbas’ plea agreement filed late Tuesday outlines his role in the school-finance scheme, as well as several other cyber and business email compromise schemes that cumulatively caused more than $24 million in losses.

    According to the indictment, Abbas allegedly conspired with Abdulrahman Imraan Juma, a.k.a. “Abdul,” 28, of Kenya, and Kelly Chibuzo Vincent, 40, of Nigeria, to defraud the Qatari businessperson by claiming to be consultants and bankers who could facilitate a loan to finance construction of the planned school. Juma allegedly posed as a facilitator and consultant for the illusory bank loans, while Abbas played the role of “Malik,” a Wells Fargo banker in New York, according to court documents. Vincent, in turn, allegedly provided support for the false narratives fed to the victim by, among other things, creating bogus documents and arranging for the creation of a fake bank website and phone banking line.

    Abdulrahman seen in past photo with Hushpuppi.

    The conspirators allegedly defrauded the victim out of more than $1.1 million.

    As per the court documents, Imraan Juma worked hand-in-hand with Hushpuppi and another Nigerian identified as Kelly Chibuzo to defraud a Qatari business person more than Kenya Shillings 1.1 billion in the guise that they will facilitate the businessman with a loan to fund the construction of a school in Qatar.

    Juma posed as a facilitator and consultant for the illusionary bank loans while Hushpuppi played the role of ‘Malik’ a Wells Fargo banker in New York.

    Chibuzo is accused of creating bogus documents and arranging the creation of a bogus Bank website and phone banking line.

    According to court documents seen by Kenya Insights, Juma engaged the services of Kenyan law firm Okatch and Partners Advocates in scamming the Qatari Victim Company, the firm was used to receive the funds from the victim.

    “During this meeting, the Victim Businessperson signed a contract with Westload. The contract stated that the Victim Businessperson was responsible for paying a “consultancy fee” of $225,000 through the law firm Okatch & Partners (“Okatch”), which was located in Kenya. The payment was to be made in two installments—an initial payment of $157,500 and a second payment for $67,500. Westload also provided two initial invoices; one for $157,500 for the first installment and another for $6,900, for purported legal and initial engagement fees.” Court paper reads.

    The Qatari businessman wanted a financier for the construction project and Juma posed as a financier using Westload Financial Solutions Limited (“Westload”) the company purported to facilitate the loan.

    On around December 6 and 7, 2019, the Victim Businessperson wired approximately USD $150,000 to Okatch in four transactions court papers show.

    Then, on February 4, 2020, JUMA told the Victim Businessperson to send money to Okatch, in Kenya. Between approximately February 5 and 10, 2020, the Victim Businessperson sent $299,983.58 to the bank account of Okatch in seven separate transactions.

    Court papers strongly indicate that the law firm facilitated the scamming.

    Duncan Okatch, perhaps the most prominent senior partner in the firm is also a controversial figure in the press.

    Raila Odinga’s aide Silas Jakakimba claimed to have been assaulted by Okatch who’s his ex-wife’s lawyer in child custody case that has been going on for time now. He alleged that Okatch has punched him in the face severally in front of his sons.

    The lawyer got physical after he could not be allowed to attend a meeting that was to be held between Jakakimba, his wife, and the management of the Riara School.

    The lawyer had colluded with Jakakimba’s wife to block him (Jakakimba) from clearing his sons from Riara School, where they had been schooling.

    Okatch also represented Babu Owino in the DJ Evolve shooting saga and has handled a number of high profile cases.

    Fraudsters have perfected their art to erase their footprints by working with rogue law firms who conspire in their scheme by laundering the crime proceeds.

    Tom Okundi of Okundi & Company Advocates is notorious for laundering money for gold scammers, a matter that saw his bank accounts frozen by court after it was determined that mega gold scammer, Jared Otieno used the firm to scam Sh300M some foreigners.

    Such dirty deals do not only jeopardize the reputation of the law firm, but drops clients trust and puts other clients money held by the firms in risk.

    The new revelations could now mean that the US authorities would be flying into the country to trace the Kenyan suspect who’s believed to be somewhere in Africa and on the run. FBI successfully extradited the Akasha brothers who’re now in a US jail over narcotics dealings.

    Hushpuppi was arrested in July last year in Dubai by Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) detectives and flown into the US.

  • Rogue Landlord Subject Kileleshwa Residents To High Insecurity On Account Of Being Forced To Pay Rent In Cash

    Rogue Landlord Subject Kileleshwa Residents To High Insecurity On Account Of Being Forced To Pay Rent In Cash

    The property, going by the name Viraj, has about 1,000 units in Kileleshwa and another 1,500 units on Mombasa road. For the Kileleshwa units the average rent is Ksh.70,000 giving a total of Ksh. 70 million cash collections for Kileleshwa alone. Adding up with the ones along Mombasa road, the cash collections could get to Ksh. 200 million monthly.

    There have been reported cases of muggings when tenants go to pay cash. Our team made a visit to to the location of offices where tenants take the cash and established that indeed the alley to the Viraj offices is quite solitary and leads to a dead end. The road is also in a deplorable state with suspicious looking people strolling aimlessly along the stretch. Besides the security issues, tenants had requested that due to covid pandemic, social distancing would have been achieved if they were given an account to be paying to. This fell on deaf ears.

    Tax Evasion

    The other issue however is that cash collection is always a recipe for tax evasion since there is no structured way of accounting for the rent collected. Previous exposePrevious expose by tenants and a number of bloggers however saw KRA take no action. Indeed the Indian owners always brag of how they have the KRA officers on their payroll and that nothing can be done to them.

    A number of units have however been sold by the Viraj owners, but even with this, they treat the owners with contempt. Payment of service charge is done with no improvements being made on the common areas. Units that were previously sold for 17m canfetch only 12m currently because of the poorly managed common areas within the estates. There is no paintworks of the external building and the perimeter wall, poor gardening, poor electrical connections, poor/old drainage, age old water tanks, among others.

    The patriarch Viju Patel has since split the houses to the children and the Kileleshwa units were given to a son by the name Vijay Patel. The son, a well-educated man, is a sharp contrast to his wife who is illiterate and very arrogant. Indeed, the laid back Vijay has left the running of the once sought after estate to the wife named Jyoti.

    Jyoti has turned the once beautiful Viraj Estate  into an eye sore, comparable to the dilapidated County council estates. The money collected is wasted with no meaningful investment to improve the outlook of the estate. The two have run down what the founder Viju Patel, took years to build. So hardworking and dedicated was the partriarch that he recently became the first Kenyan to buy a Tesla model X 75D. Effort to reach Vijay and his wife Jyoti bore no fruit as our phone calls went unanswered.

    Apartments in Kileleshwa estate.

    We only hope that with 100% sale of the units to other owners, there will be restoration of the glory of the once beautiful Viraj Estates as what exists is the extreme bottom of the barrel.

     

  • Selective Execution; When Will EACC Have Balls To Arrest Uhuru’s Ally Githaiga Over TARDA Multi-Million Saga

    Selective Execution; When Will EACC Have Balls To Arrest Uhuru’s Ally Githaiga Over TARDA Multi-Million Saga

    One thing about investigative bodies in Kenya is sometimes talking a lot for the purpose of scoring public trust, promising to crush the criminals in the society and do too little in action. EACC is such a body that has become synonymous with blowing hot air.

    Recently, the anti-graft authority vowed to with other investigative bodies like the DCI and NIS to go after public officers occupying office using forged papers. It has been said that majority are holding office with falsified documents thereby earning salaries irregularly.

    Such a case of public officers using fake documents is that of Stephen Githaiga an ally to the President whom he has often boasted of his assured protection despite the illegalities committed. He was also one of the big financiers for Jubilee Party where he raised millions for the campaigns.

    Having a job remains the biggest dream for many in Kenya and they would strive to do all it takes to keep employment. There is, however a limit to everything as Stephen Githaiga may have learnt the hard way.

    His tenure at the helm of the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (Tarda) was brought to a crashing end last year in October unceremoniously but after a relentless battle when a judge ruled that his appointment as the managing director was in breach of law—ending his three-decade link with the firm he joined as a trainee financial analyst.

    Though Mr Githaiga’s lengthy service at Tarda had been tranquil all through, matters hit a rough patch for him after he rose to the position of managing director in 2015 amid claims of a falsified identification document which lowered his actual age in order to win him a lengthier stay at the water services firm.

    Mr Githaiga was also accused of nepotism after allegedly employing some 41 people who are related to him at the agency, claims he disputed.

    The tribal MD had been misusing his office openly and DCI together with the toothless EACC swayed out of the radar. Sources from EACC confirmed that the MD Steven Githaiga had allegedly bribed EACC  official to evade arrest over multiple crimes.

    After joining Tarda in 1984, Mr Githaiga rose through the ranks and was promoted to the position of deputy managing director.

    In April 2013, he was appointed the acting managing director pending the recruitment of a substantive office holder but the board later met and recommended to Environment CS to confirm him to the position.

    His appointment was confirmed through a Gazette Notice on June 12, 2015, for a term of three years.

    And before the lapse of his term, Mr Githaiga applied for renewal of his tenure and the board subsequently met in July 2017 and resolved to renew his appointment.

    The move forced the Union of Kenya Civil Servants to file a case in court, challenging the decision by Devolution CS to approve his second tenure.

    The union claimed that an audit carried out by the Auditor-General in June 2015 had established that he had changed names and date of birth to avoid retirement.

    According to the union, Mr Githaiga’s passport indicated the date of birth as October 20, 1958 under the name Ruimuku Steven Githaiga. The second identity card, under the name Steven Maina Githaiga, indicated the date of birth as 1953.

    In response, Mr Githaiga maintained that his passport, identity card, birth certificate, baptismal card and police clearance certificates all showed date of birth as October 20, 1958. He denied claims of a second identity card filed by the union showing different dates.

    Other than the claims of falsifying his identity card to avoid retirement, the union alleged that his appointment for the second tenure was irregular because it was made without following due process.

    “The court is satisfied based on the records produced that Steven Maina Githaiga and Steven Githaiga Ruimuku are one and the same person, and that the 4th Respondent (Mr Githaiga) had caused to be altered his birth records,” Justice Stephen Radido ruled.

    The judge said Mr Githaiga was in violation of public service values and principles,since he stood to benefit by altering the dates in his identity card.

    The court noted that the Auditor General’s report for the year ended 2015 established that Mr Githaiga irregularly caused the employment of staff from a particular region, when he was acting managing director.

    “The court is satisfied that the 4th Respondent was in breach of the values and principles of public service as well as the requirements on code of conduct and ethics by causing to be employed by the authority, persons related to him,” the judge said.

    While quashing the appointment, Justice Radido said the government and the agency failed to provide any evidence that Mr Githaiga’s recruitment in April 2015 was subjected to public participation, competition or merit.

    OBVIOUS BREACH

    The judge added that the initial appointment failed to meet the expectations, values and principles of the public service and was therefore, a nullity.

    “The recommendation by the Authority in 2018 for the appointment and/or renewal of contract of the 4th Respondent, and the renewal of contract by the Cabinet Secretary was founded upon an obvious breach of the guiding norms and cannot be allowed to stand,” the judge said.

    The fact that the judge found him guilty of having worked illegally, relevant bodies as EACC ought to have picked the case immediately for prosecution and recover the irregularly earned perks. But have we had? A resounding silence perhaps to get the case out of the public face.

    According to a petition filed in court, Steve Githaiga Ruimuku defrauded the Government over Kshs. 20 million in salaries and allowances for the years as MD. Then over ksh12 million he paid non-existing staff including his wife, brother, new wife’s brothers and other relatives and friends.

    In 2019 when we mounted pressure, Mubarak led EACC officials confirmed that they were investigating Githaiga. The same Institution had confirmed in 2016 that Steve was a verified fraud and he was being grilled.

    When Mubarak was installed at the EACC, he was tasked to clean the rotten EACC. The corrupt individuals had made EACC a den of the corrupt and had acquired massive wealth by sitting on documents and subvert serious cases.

    TARDA was operationally crippled by this MD. In countries where the rule of law prevails, Steve would already be serving his miserable time behind bars. Unfortunately, he’s a free man roaming in Urban eating joints and spending cash from his fraud dealings in City bars.

    He’s always chest-thumping that he has Uhuru Kenyatta’s blessings and he’s from his community. Steven Githaiga contributed Ksh 2.5 Million for president Uhuru’s re-election. Is he amongst those that are on the State House protection list?

    Giving credits where it’s due, today, Detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) arrested a former County Executive in Charge of Sports in Meru, for allegedly forging his education papers.

    Daniel Kiogora was arrested after EACC received intelligence reports that he forged his Bachelor of Commerce Degree Certificate from the University of Nairobi.

    He is said to have used the forged document to secure his job.

    This is exactly how things should be done. Cases need to be investigated and prosecuted and filed not left to catch dust yet the body has claimed they’ve been investigating Githaiga since 2016? Such a simple case. The inaction could simply mean that Githaiga is a man too big for Mubarak.

    The downside of leaving such cases untouched is it encourages the crime and replicated in other institutions. For a country that has highly qualified young people catching dust in unemployment, jobs should be given to people who’re qualified for the positions. You can’t fight corruption with trembling hands.

    For the 111th time we’re asking EACC to tell us how far they’ve gone with Githaiga’s case which is in the public domain just in the same speed they’re telling us about junior officials being arrested over forged papers.

    Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) also ought to be interested and enjoined in the efforts of recovering the public’s funds not only from Githaiga but all those who earn salaries, enjoy perks that the jobs they fraudulently sit on come with.

    Lastly, are president’s fraud allies too sacred to be touched?

  • Humphrey Kariuki Puts Up His Tax Dispute Ridden Africa Spirits For Sale

    Humphrey Kariuki Puts Up His Tax Dispute Ridden Africa Spirits For Sale

    Following a two-year battle with the courts on allegations of Sh41B tax evasion on his firm, the Janus Continental Group’s boss Humphrey Kariuki has decided to put for sale the scandal ridden Africa Spirits that’s in the middle of the circus with Kenya Revenue Authority(KRA).

    Mr Kariuki and his co-accused denied failing to pay tax of Sh17,782,553,085 to the commissioner of domestic taxes between January and December 2016.

    They are also accused of omitting Sh832,048,543 in Value Added Tax (VAT) for Africa Spirits Limited (ASL), an amount which had been included in the returns, for the period January to December 2016.

    For 2017, Mr Kariuki allegedly failed to remit Sh5,981,840,025 while ASL failed to remit Sh2,188,622,304. For 2018, the directors of Wow Beverages Limited (WBL) and ASL are charged with failing to remit Sh5,673,829,000.

    The run-ins with the authorities has taken toll of the reclusive billionaire who’s now considering selling it.

    Mr. Kariuki, has already received several offers to acquire his brewery Africa Spirits, reportedly, he has already turned down offers from London Distillers and 254 Brewing Company, which he deemed too low.

    He is currently in discussions with Keroche Breweries, a major Kenyan brewery, but is asking but is asking for more money and they have not yet reached an agreement. Kenyatta’s bitter aftertaste.

    In addition to their current negotiations, Keroche’s director Tabitha Karanja and Kariuki have another point in common. They were both in full support of President Uhuru Kenyatta on the campaign trail before being ensnared in his anti-corruption policy.

    In fact, this policy is what led Kariuki to put Africa Spirits up for sale. The common denominator between the Karanja’s and Kariuki is that they have all been attacked by the Kenyatta government despite having financed Kenyatta’s 2013 and 2017 election campaigns. They have become collateral damage in the big anti-corruption campaign organised by Kenyatta, who wanted to show that he was not taking action solely against his perceived political enemies.

    Keroche just like in Kariuki’s case, found themselves in the crossfire where the brewery was accused of Sh14B tax evasion in a case that also attracted political attention with many pointing accusing fingers at Statehouse for not being supportive of local industries. The case is still in court just like tbe Kariuki’s.

  • WATCH: TV Presenter Interrupts Live News Broadcast To Claim He Hasn’t Been Paid

    WATCH: TV Presenter Interrupts Live News Broadcast To Claim He Hasn’t Been Paid

    A Zambian TV presenter interrupted a live news broadcast to claim on-air that he hadn’t been paid by the news station.

    On Saturday evening, Kabinda Kalimina was reading out the top news stories on KBN TV News (Kenmark Broadcasting Network) when he made an unexpected accusation on air.

    Having taken a deep breath, Mr Kalimina began by stating: ‘Aside from news ladies and gentlemen. We are human beings. We have to get paid.’

    He then added: ‘We haven’t been paid,’ referencing himself and other colleagues working for KBN TV.

    After Mr Kalimina made his statement on air, the live feed showing him in the studio was cut to the opening montage for the news channel.

    Kennedy K Mambwe, the CEO of KBN TV, released a statement on the channel’s Facebook page admonishing Mr Kalimina’s actions.

    Mr Mambwe accused Mr Kalimina of being ‘drunk’, stating: ‘As KBN TV, we are appalled with the drunken behaviour exhibited through a video clip that has gone viral on social media and staged by one of our part-time presenters during what should have been the main news bulletin last night.’

    The chief executive praised the work of the TV channel’s ‘very highly talented and professional team’, with ‘gallant men and women’ representing the organisation over the past two years.

    He stated that KBN TV has ‘very well-established grievance procedures for all members of staff through which they can channel their complaints’.

    ‘Therefore, last night’s behaviour by Kabinda Kalimina is out of character and does not represent who we are as a station,’ he wrote.

    ‘We strongly condemn that despicable behaviour and urge members of the public to treat that “One-Night stunt of Fame” with the contempt it deserves.’

    Mr Mambwe said that ‘investigations’ are being carried out ‘to determine how a drunken part time presenter found himself on air unabated and disciplinary action will be taken against anyone who may have been party to the scheme’.

    On Facebook, Mr Kalimina defended his actions, stating: ‘Yes I did that on live TV, just because most journalists are scared to speak out doesn’t mean journalists shouldn’t speak out.’

  • Business Genius Or Well Dressed Wolf? Shoddy Deals Peels The Mask Off Devki’s ‘Guru’ Narendra Raval

    Business Genius Or Well Dressed Wolf? Shoddy Deals Peels The Mask Off Devki’s ‘Guru’ Narendra Raval

    Until recently when the hell broke lose over the Mumias Sugar Company’s purported revival, Narendra Raval aka Guru as he’s known in his circles for his prowess to cut deals and come up with genius business ideas that have placed him amongst richest people in Kenya, Raval was just a wealthy businessman with a clean slate and a philanthropist who rides in a boda boda to work.

    He hasn’t received much negative press like in the past weeks perhaps a good job from his PR team that ensures his image remains Snow White.

    Until the secret deal that Raval had drawn with Mumias Sugar’s receiver manager Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao was uncovered, all was well as Devki sold the narrative that he was all out to revive a dead company in the tune of Sh5 billion

    So good was his selling points that he said his bid was not to make money, he says, but to revitalise it and give cane farmers livelihoods. Of course that was a plain lie, even world’s biggest philanthropists like Bill Gates don’t ‘help’ entirely without securing their business interests, even philanthropy is business, good for tax evasion by the way from the tax exemptions.

    All was going smooth until the Devki-Mumias deal blew up in parliament with Western politicians reading ulterior motives in the deal.

    It emerged that the leasing process of Mumias Sugar Company Limited was done in secret between Raval, Rao and allegedly in liaison with Kakamega Governor Oparanya.

    Political leaders from the Western region, where the plant is located, made public statements seeking more information while calling for transparency in the take-over process.

    Speaking on behalf of those leaders, Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi said the struggling sugar firm is a strategic facility in the region and that locals must be fully involved.

    ”KCB Group which placed the company under receivership must be careful how it picks an investor to revive it because the person or firm that comes in will require the goodwill of the leadership, farmers and other stakeholders,” Mudavadi said.

    Lugari MP Ayub Savula has asked the receiver-manager at the troubled Mumias sugar firm P. V Ramana Rao to declare the amount of money he has made from the sale of ethanol.

    “We’re aware that the KCB has negotiated with Narendra Raval who is ready to pump Sh5 billion in the revival of the company.  Rao must make public how much money he has made from ethanol and how much he has repaid KCB,” Savula said.

    When the lid was lift and things started getting nasty, Devki tactfully pulled out of the deal citing protection of their reputation and giving a chance to an open leasing process, this was an afterthought, at first the company was okay going through backdoor to win the lease and on being found with hands in the cookie jar, pulled back to play saint. Devki was aware there wasn’t any public bidding process which is unethical and ridiculously announced withdrawal from a which had not been announced or started, plainly admitting to have attempted playing dirty.

    However, Devki’s problems were from over as renowned activist Okiya Omtatah filed a petition in court to stop the leasing of Mumias Sugar Company as it was marred in secrecy and Rao had manipulated the process in favor of Devki.

    The petition unmasked relationship Devki had with Rao and to a larger extent how Raval seals his some of his deals behind close doors and by using his high connections to get ahead of his competitors in unfair business practices.

    In the petition, Omtatah says it is only when Rao was summoned to the Senate that he disclosed that he had invited eight investors.

    The companies include Catalysis Group of Russia, Sarrai Group of Uganda, Kruman Associates (France), Kibos Sugar and Devki Group, which are both from Kenya, Premier JV (India), Third Gate Capital Management and Godavari Enterprises, India.

    It has also emerged that none of the eight bidders he secretly invited to bid had the capacity to revive the company, leading to fears that a plan was underway to dispose the company off to Rao’s cronies for a song.

    Omtatah says that the fears that the Receiver Manager is conflicted were further reinforced by the fact that, while he was the receiver manager at Kwale Sugar Company he sold scrap metal to the purported lead bidder, Devki Steel Millers Ltd.

    Incidentally, Western leaders had pointed out that given Devki’s past relationships and deals with Rao, the two were scavenging for scrap metals in Mumias which Devki deals in, curiously, the Mumias Sugar takeover by Devki looked like a fine blueprint of Kwale Sugar so the fears of leaders that Devki was coming to Mumias for scrap metals are believable.

    In his petition to oust the questionable receiver manager, Omtatah also claimed that Rao took over the Mumias Company to ostensibly “protect its assets and to the best extent maintain its operations,” yet the company was processing ethanol, from molasses bought mainly from the neighbouring Butali and Busia sugar companies.

    In the court documents, Omtatah says that instead of reviving the company, Rao has mismanaged the ethanol operations and shut them down in March 2021, thus halting all manufacturing operations at the company.

    Also, without proper planning, he ploughed 677 hectares of the Nucleus Estate but failed to plant sugarcane on some 307 HA, letting the effort go to waste.

    He adds that he is aggrieved that close to two years after taking over in 2021, the receiver manager has not published a general statement of affairs on the assets and liabilities of the company as at the time he took over and made known the efforts he has taken to protect the assets of the company and the interests of investors (including farmers), creditors, and other parties.

    He also said Rao has not published periodic reports on what he has done to reduce the KCB Group debt that is responsible for the receivership or published a general statement of affairs on the current state of the assets and liabilities of the company.

    He reiterates that he is aggrieved that the receiver manager has been on site for close to two years with nothing positive to show for it.

    “To make matters worse, he has neglected many assets of Mumias Sugar Company, including the Nucleus Estate and machinery, resulting in the company making huge losses due to the deterioration of the assets,” he adds.

    While answering to the senate over Auditor General Nancy Gathungu‘s report to anomalies flagged in the 2018/19 financial year, an exchange between Governor Oparanya and Senator Malala revealed more about Devki and the relationship Raval has with the Governor.

    The melee started after Malala alleged that Oparanya’s administration has been dishing out county contracts through direct procurement to Devki, the financier who was supposed to take over Mumias Sugar Company.

    The allegations arose from an audit query where Gathungu flagged procurement of fertiliser at a contract sum of Sh305.01 million by the county government.

    According to the report, the county procured 135,000 25kg bags of planting fertiliser and 90,000 bags of top dressing fertiliser for maize.

    However, the county did not award the tender to bidder one and bidder two that had been recommended.

    Instead, it awarded the tender to Mavuno brand fertiliser, who was bidder three without notifying the other bidders.

    “Had the supplies been procured from bidders No 1 and No 2 at their respective process, the cost would have amounted to Sh238.50 million instead of Sh305.01 million. Management would as a result, have saved Sh66.51 million.

    In his response, the governor said the law does not require the procurement entity to notify other bidders.

    He added that Mavuno was picked as it had the type of fertiliser the user department needed after consulting the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute on the appropriate type.

    But Malala immediately shot to the floor, saying while the governor’s explanation was scientifically correct, he had issues with the mode of procurement.

    “Your response is scientifically correct, but I have an issue with the contract. Why was the first and second bidders not awarded?” he posed.

    He demanded that the governor and county chief officer in charge of agriculture disclose the proprietor of Mavuno.

    The governor said he did not know the proprietor of the firm a response that triggered the senator to table a document, alleging that the firm is owned by Devki.

    “The owner of Mavuno is Devki.  Is there any relationship between the governor and Devki. Three year ago you gave Devki a go ahead to lease Mumias,” he claimed.

    The governor insisted he had no relationship with Devki.

    “I don’t know him. You think you are the only person who can speak,” a visibility agitated governor hit back as the situation escalated.

    Previously, Sugarcane farmers had flagged efforts by the Governor to rig the deal for Devki Group.

    The farmers from Western region have warned Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya against meddling in the leasing process of Mumias Sugar Company.

    The farmers accused the governor of misadvising Mumias Sugar Receiver Manager Pongangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao to disregard the directives of the Senate.

    The Senate Committee on Agriculture recommended that the process of leasing Mumias Sugar Company should start afresh and that it must be done in a fair and transparent manner.

    However, Governor Oparanya, over the weekend appeared to discredit senators saying that they have no powers to direct Mr Rao how to carry out the process.

    “We are privy to the information that Governor Oparanya is asking Mumias Sugar Receiver Manager to ignore the recommendations of the Senate and bring in Devki Group Limited, we shall resist,” said the farmers in protest of Oparanya’s bias to Devki.

    Curiously, Oparanya has been having an interest in Mumias takeover and warned severally against it, it therefore doesn’t take brainer to how Devki was secretly pulled in, pitted the lead bidder and by connections pushed for the seal by the governor.

    Dominance

    There has been proxy wars as it could emerge that Rai’s family made a bid for Mumias through their Ugandan subsidiary Sarrai Group, which among other installations, owns a sugar and plywood business in Uganda and Malawi. Rai family are the dominating sugar industry shareholders in the country and one of the bidders for Mumias takeover, were to meet their longtime foe in the fight for sugar dominance.

    A rivalry has existed between the Rai and Raval with the two wealthy businessmen trying to outdo each other, Rai has made attempts to penetrate the cement market but Raval with his methods has ensured it hasn’t happened like in the case of ARM takeover that he kicked Rai out. By attempting the Mumias takeover, Raval was taking the war to Rai’s doorstep.

    Rai is the sugar magnate controlling 44 per cent market share through his three millers – West Kenya, Sukari Industries, and Olepito Sugar.

    Raval, popularly known as Guru is the king of steel through his company Devki Group has been expanding his empire into cement business.

    In 2015, a Nigerian magnate approached Guru, with a proposal to acquire part of the Devki empire as a means of accessing the East African market. Mr Raval turned down Mr Dangote’s offer.

    He has since been expanding rapidly and he beat Rai to the court battle to take over Athi River Mining (ARM) where Guru emerged the winner and gave him teeth into cement and fertilizer business.

    ARM deal made Guru’s National Cement Company (NCC) which manufactures the Simba Cement brand, the second biggest cement maker in the country.

    National Cement expansion saw it merge with Cemtech in West Pokot with significant limestone and clay deposits that are key components in its production.

    Raval is also erecting a second 1.8 million metric tonnes per annum clinker line in Kajiado where construction started this year.

    He is also setting up another 0.75 million metric tonnes cement plant to be built in Kilifi County while the 0.88 million metric tonnes is still underway and was to be commissioned in mid-2020.

    Unhealthy Competition

    The king of Kenyan cement and boss of Devki Group, Narendra Raval, has been aiming to become the sole supplier of raw materials to his competitors. Raval has been lobbying the government to raise the import duties on clinker from 10% to 25%.

    The clinker wars that favors Devki attracted cries from close competitors like Savannah Cement who accused Raval of using his proximity to Statehouse to lobby for unfavorable terms to his competitors in bid to lock them out and cement his market dominance which they termed as unhealthy.

    Raval has had cordial relationships with the Kenyatta government as well as the previous Kibaki government. There have been claims that he uses his proximity to power to cut deal, claims that he naturally dismisses.

    On March 9, 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta handpicked Raval to replace Shem Oyoo Wandigaas the Egerton University chancellor.

    Like the late Chris Kirubi, Raval has also been a power broker an instance of how played a big role in ensuring that Kenya’s third President Mwai Kibaki appointed Kalonzo Musyoka as his vice president after the disputed 2007 polls, as Kalonzo confirmed in his 2016 memoir, Against All Odds.

    Raval’s philanthropy has been felt more so during the COVID-19 pandemic where he donated oxygen to all government and county hospitals in the country. He was also appointed by Uhuru to the Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund Board. Its primary mandate was to mobilise resources for an emergency response towards containing the spread, effects and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other objectives of the fund included  supporting the government’s efforts in the supply of medical facilities and equipment and support for vulnerable communities with their immediate needs, including food.

    The fund would later be rocked with misappropriation of funds as flagged by the Auditor General.

    While the world is all praises for Raval, he has equally been criticized by workers rights groups over welfare of workers in Devki steel factories. Allegations include, Workers being hired and fired on temporary casual contracts even though those who’ve worked for years. Poor wages and lack of adherence to occupational safety & health requirements a mater that had put the company on the spot after five workers died in an explosion. The company’s labourers claimed the company flouted labour laws saying they worked longer hours and that most of them were not supplied with protecting gear.

    In 2015, he featured in Forbes Magazine, among Africa’s top 50 richest people, with his fortune estimated at Ksh40 billion then.

    Companies under his solely owned Devki Group conglomerate include Devki Steel Mills Limited, National Cement Company Limited Uganda, Maisha Mabati Mills Limited and Northwood Aviation Limited.

  • Kakuzi Abandons ‘Vexatious’ Lawsuit Aimed At Silencing Critics On Rights Abuse At The Avocado Farm

    Kakuzi Abandons ‘Vexatious’ Lawsuit Aimed At Silencing Critics On Rights Abuse At The Avocado Farm

    Kakuzi avocado farm has been holding into every string of hope after their reputation was dented with the expose of historical atrocities that have been documented, continues to grasp for air in desperate bid to win international trust after UK supermarkets that provided their biggest market decided to cut links and boycotted their products.

    In March this years, Kakuzi Limited took two lobby groups to court seeking to lift the lid on investigations into rape, killings, and abuses in its expansive farm in Makuyu.

    Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Ndula Resource Center (NRC) are said to have investigated the alleged atrocities by Kakuzi guards and which led to a case in the United Kingdom against Camellia PLC, Kakuzi’s parent company.

    Although Camellia paid Sh696 million as compensation, Kakuzi in its case says that KHRC’s claims on what allegedly transpired is untrue and should be forced to produce the report of its investigations to the police, or before a magistrate.

    Kakuzi says in its case filed before the High Court that it wrote to KHRC and NRC demanding that they either report to the authorities or be forced to admit that they had no evidence to support the claims by 85 people and delete an article published in KHRC’s website.

    Those who sued Camellia are 79.

    “It is incredulous for the respondents to state that they have been investigating the petitioner for the last 17 years yet no report has ever been disclosed to the petitioner,” the case filed by Kakuzi’s lawyers Kaplan and Stratton reads in part.

    “Accusations of killings, rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence causing grievous bodily harm, abominable labour injustices, wanton violence, bad corporate governance are extremely serious accusations and must, as of right, be substantiated with sufficient evidence to support the charge before a court of law,” said the lawyers.

    Kakuzi denies that there were such crimes happening on its land where it grows among others crops avocados. It argues that if they occurred, then KHRC and NRC are complicit in shielding the perpetrators.

    According to Kakuzi, its business has been adversely affected by the claims.

    “The only inference that can be drawn from the respondents conduct in refusing to provide the petitioner with the information sought and or in laying a complaint as provided under the law for each and every accusation in the article is false, misleading, and devoid of any evidentiary material,” the case continues to read.

    Kakuzi, The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed firm says that it was dropped in the UK case.

    In the case, Camellia PLC was accused of turning a blind eye to systematic human rights abuse by Kakuzi Limited employees including rape, killings, attacks, false imprisonment, and mistreatment for a period of 11 years.

    The victims’ lawyers Leigh Day, had claimed that Kakuzi security guards have been inflicting unexplained harm to the locals surrounding its plantation.

    The 85 victims include Kakuzi former employees, women, and girls who were allegedly raped by the guards after being caught while collecting wood on the company’s land. Some are said to have contracted HIV or became pregnant. They included 10 women and girls, including two who are less underage.  A young man was claimed to have been clobbered to death by the guards.

    Shortly after the UK case was settled, Kakuzi took the charities that supported alleged victims to court in Kenya. 

    When contacted last week by The Times and asked whether it was a “vexatious” case designed to silence criticism, Kakuzi suddenly decided to withdraw it.

    “Corporates are increasingly weaponising the law to burden their critics with the heavy cost of legal defense, to intimidate and silence them until they abandon their criticism. This is the strategy Kakuzi has employed.” Said Mary Kambo, Program manager on trade and Labour justice, Land and resource governance at KHRC.

    “This legal strategy is commonly known as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP). SLAPPs can be successfully resisted as was recently shown by the South African ruling in Mineral Sands Resources v Reddell where the court recognised the defamation suits as SLAPPs! The SLAPP suit by Kakuzi presents a unique opportunity for our courts to shape jurisprudence on SLAPP suits. Some jurisdictions have passed anti-SLAPP laws to prevent people including corporates from using courts to intimidate and muzzle their critics.“ She aimed at Kakuzi on the filing of the suit.

    “The Company is acting like a jester! To the extent that its parent Company has agreed to settle the human rights violations claims against it simply shows admission of liability by the Company. A laws suit against the CSOs is not the way to clear its very tainted reputation!” Said Nasanga Aki, Kenyan high court advocate in reaction to Kakuzi’s suit.

    “Kakuzi is a corporate bully playing Victim.“ Olang Kolang, an advocate also commented.

    On 14th February 2021, the two organizations released a press statement immediately after the compensation news came out and it is the statement that angered Kakuzi who were desperate for a clean image.

    The press statement was in reaction to a costly settlement by Kakuzi’s parent company, Camellia PLC, over gross human rights violations alleged to have been committed by one of its subsidiary companies, Kakuzi.

    On 11th February 2021, Camellia announced to its shareholders and traders that it would spend up to Kshs. 694 million to settle individual claims as well as pay legal fees for claims of gross human rights violations committed by Kakuzi security guards. These claims had been lodged in the London High Court by Leigh Day, a leading UK law firm that partnered with KHRC and NRC to bring the suit against Camellia. The UK suit comprised of 85 claimants who live around Kakuzi, with claims ranging from killing(s), assault and rape in the hands of Kakuzi guards.

    Locally and in its suit, Kakuzi is alleged that KHRC and NRC violated its right to a fair trial under Article 50 of the Constitution and that the statement issued on February 14th is untrue and that it damaged Kakuzi’s reputation and that of its shareholders and partners. Kakuzi sought to compel the KHRC and NRC to withdraw the press statement and issue a public apology.

    Further and following the settlement by Camellia, Kakuzi instituted a raft of reparative measures which included (1) funding of charcoal kilns and access to firewood for the local communities to produce and sell charcoal, (2) building two social centres, (3) employing safety marshalls, (4) building three new roads of motorable access by the community without any requirement to obtain a licence from the company as was previously the case (5)  establishing of a Technical Working Group to survey and demarcate land which has been previously donated by the company, and (6) designing and implementing a human rights defenders policy. “These measures were not instituted as part of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme. They were part of a desperate attempt by Kakuzi to restore its UK market lost in the wake of media reports on Kakuzi’s nefarious behaviour towards its host community and workers.” KHRC said in a statement.

    In reaction to the settlement deal, the two human rights groups reiterated that there were pending issues outlined in their February 14th statement that took that to court with the SLAPP suit making the following DEMANDS:

    1. That the Murang’a County Assembly ensures that Kakuzi land leases are not renewed until all claims on historical land injustices are resolved.
    2. That the UK market sustains the current boycott of Kakuzi produce until all pending claims are addressed. We will further initiate an engagement with other Kakuzi markets to boycott any produce coming from Kakuzi until there is demonstrable change in attitude and behaviour on the part of Kakuzi.
    3. That the national Parliament and the Senate immediately investigate Kakuzi on all the pending claims and institute appropriate accountability measures against the company.
    4. That the National Land Commission implements forthwith, its decision of February 2019 directing the surrender by Kakuzi of ALL public utilities on its land including schools, markets, police stations, hospitals, public roads of access, wayleaves and easements to national and county government as appropriate.

    KHRC and Kakuzi PLC have been engaged in legal feuds spanning over 17 years over land issues and allegations that the firm has been violating the rights of members of the public. The feuds saw KHRC partner with a UK-based law firm Leigh Day to sue Kakuzi’s parent company Camellia PLC at a London court over the alleged abuses. They at one point accused of tampering with witnesses by luring them with goodies to withdraw from the case claims which naturally Kakuzi denied.

    Cornered Kakuzi perhaps for fear of more damages to the bad reputation they’ve propagated, are withdrawing the suit.

     

    Even as the firm is cooking its heels, trouble seem to be a committed partner, a recent report by BBC revealed more cases of abuse in the firm.

    “I was caught like that and he was catching me here like this. I was taken round. He stood up and stepped on me. He stepped on my neck. He held my neck and turned it around. He covered my mouth while I screamed.” Mudhikwa Musau, 88, lives in a village just a few minutes’ walk from the tree-lined perimeter of Kakuzi’s vast farmland in central Kenya, demonstrated how the assault was carried out.

  • COVID-19 Has Drastically Impacted The Air Charter

    COVID-19 Has Drastically Impacted The Air Charter

    Regional airline, Bluebird Aviation has today said Air Charter business travel has been drastically impacted by the Covid-19 Pandemic as many customers opt to work from home and most business transactions moved online.

    Air Charter simply means, ‘Air Taxi’ where an airline takes you to a destination, waits for you to transact your business and then flies you back.

    Bluebird Aviation General Manager, Captain Hussein Mohammed said because of people working from home, the business segment has been affected in terms of those dedicated charter airlines.

    “This Business segment has been drastically affected by virtue of the fact that you can transact business in a zoom meeting and electronically you can now transact business. So technology has evolved to an extent where you are able to transact business without having to go to a physical destination like Singapore or London,”said Captain Mohammed.

    He added, “Assuming Air Charter business was say 70 per cent pre-COVID times, Charters are now down about 20 to 30 per cent.”

    Bluebird Charter Planes.

    Medical Charter has also reduced drastically, since most patients being transferred from point A to point B are COVID-19 positive.

    “No airline wants to expose their staff, both cockpit and cabin crew to COVID. Most airlines want to first know the medical status of the passenger before they start evacuation. Most of these cases are referred to airlines that are specially equipped for medical evacuation,” said Captain Mohamed.

    However, commercial airlines business travel has been enhanced to a little extent by the virtue of the fact that those who can afford it and want to fly, there is sufficient social distancing and more room in the business class.

  • KRA Made A Massive Error In Sh95 Billion Tax Claim On SportPesa

    KRA Made A Massive Error In Sh95 Billion Tax Claim On SportPesa

    By Lionel Faull and Ted Jeory

    Embattled Kenyan betting giant SportPesa has “disputed” the astonishing Sh95 billion (£633 million) total that the Kenya Revenue Authority says it owes in unpaid taxes.

    The figure, reported by the Daily Nation newspaper in January, is thought to be one of the biggest amounts ever claimed from a company by the Kenyan tax collector.

    The Daily Nation article was based on a leaked letter from the KRA to SportPesa’s main entity in Kenya, Pevans East Africa, in which it detailed its findings from a preliminary audit of the company’s tax affairs from 2015 to 2019.

    SportPesa – through London law firm Schillings – told Finance Uncovered this month the headline Sh95 billion figure was “not a formal finding by KRA or even a formal assessment”.

    It added that the KRA had “simply [undertaken] an information-gathering exercise” that is still “in its preliminary stages”.

    Schillings said its client “disputed” the figure and because the letter was not a formal assessment there was “no question” of it taking it yet to a Tax Appeals Tribunal. Schillings declined to answer detailed questions about the matter, insisting the letter was confidential.

    The KRA, likewise, declined to answer detailed questions.

    Has the KRA made a huge error?

    However, an analysis of the KRA’s reported findings by Finance Uncovered suggests the tax authority may have made a massive error in its calculations, overestimating its total by at least Sh69 billion (£460 million).

    Stripping this error out would leave a preliminary assessment of Sh26 billion (£169 million).

    The Finance Uncovered analysis of the KRA’s calculation is based on two main sets of documents.

    The first is the original articlepublished by the Daily Nation in January which provided many details of the KRA’s private letter to Pevans.

    This letter reportedly contained breakdowns of how the KRA arrived at the Sh95 billion figure, for example, by examining various company accounts and other documents it had obtained during its audit.

    The second set of documents was a series of annual company accounts for Pevans between 2014 and 2019. Unlike in the UK, these corporate documents are not usually available for public viewing in Kenya.

    By comparing the numbers reportedly used by the KRA in its audit to the actual figures in Pevans’s books – and by examining other important information in the publicly available accounts for SportPesa’s UK operations – it was possible to see a fundamental flaw in the KRA’s assumptions.

    This related to the “revenue share” arrangement that SportPesa had set up between its UK and Kenyan businesses. This arrangement had allowed the UK company to bill Pevans for a percentage share of its revenue from Kenyan gamblers.

    It was a legal method of sending money from Kenya to the UK.

    However, Finance Uncovered has concluded the KRA’s officials applied the revenue share percentage to the wrong revenue figure, thereby massively overestimating the company’s actual turnover.

    This had two major consequences for the KRA’s tax calculations because they then not only overestimated the amount of corporation tax that the company owed, but also the total of allegedly unpaid betting tax, a separate levy applied on turnover.

    The mistake could be hugely embarrassing for the KRA. It is not known whether it has accepted the error as part of the ensuing private correspondence with Pevans.

    Boom and burst: the SportPesa dividends

    Meanwhile, a separate examination of the accounts for Pevans East Africa has also revealed the enormous sums the company was able to pay out in dividends and move offshore as it cashed in on Kenya’s betting boom.

    They show how the company’s Bulgarian and Kenyan owners bolstered their wealth during a period when many of those using gambling sites became gambling addicts and lost their livelihoods.

    Between 2014 and 2019, Pevans paid out Sh7.8 billion (£60 million) in dividends to its select group of 10 shareholders, according to the company’s cash flow statements.

    A cousin of Kenya’s president became the 11th shareholder, with a 1% stake, in mid-2018.

    In addition, Pevans paid its seven directors – of whom five were non-executives earning much lower fees – a total of Sh558 million (£4.3 million) in salaries and perks between them in that time.

    The accounts also reveal that as SportPesa flourished, it created a network of related overseas companies which received money from Pevans for “revenue share” arrangements, “legal and professional fees” and other services.

    These monies were used to facilitate the company’s international expansion that saw it land high profile sponsorship deals with the likes of English Premier League club Everton FC.

    The overseas companies which received the money from Kenya included firms based in the UK, the Isle of Man tax haven and the Canary Islands.

    These offshore structures and payments are not illegal and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by SportPesa.

    The KRA was reportedly examining many of these payments as part of the wide-ranging audit it had conducted on Pevans’s books.

    The tax row is the latest low point for SportPesa’s owners after their bubble burst spectacularly in 2019 when the company fell out of favour with the government.

    Until then the company had been a darling of the Kenyan corporate world. The accounts seen by Finance Uncovered help paint a fuller picture of its rise and fall.

    SportPesa was founded in 2014 by a consortium of Bulgarian and Kenyan investors.

    The three biggest shareholders, with a 21% stake each, were Guerassim Nikolov, a former croupier from Sofia who had made Kenya his home in the early 2000s; Gene Grand, a Bulgarian-born, naturalised American citizen; and Dick Wathika, a Kenyan politician who had been an MP and former mayor of Nairobi.

    Guerassim Nikolov, SportPesa’s co-founder and equal biggest shareholder (Photo: Facebook)

    Wathika died in 2015, and his shares passed to his widow, Asenath Wacera, a private figure who keeps a low profile.

    Other significant shareholders include one-time chairman Paul Wanderi Ndung’u, a well-connected businessman with links to the ruling party’s fundraising machine, holding a 17% stake; and its chief executive Ronald Karauri, the son of a former MP who began his career as a pilot for the national carrier Kenya Airways, with 6% initially, rising to 7% in 2018.

    Sports betting was a relatively new idea in Kenya at the time, but the Pevans accounts for 2014 showed early promise for the sector: the company received bets totalling Sh1.27 billion (£9 million) that year.

    What happened over the next four years was simply extraordinary.

    Punters flocked to SportPesa, whose slick product meshed seamlessly with a nationwide mobile phone-based banking system, dominated by a service called M-Pesa, which had become an essential part of everyday life in the East African country.

    The bets poured in: from Sh16 billion (£104 million) in 2015 to Sh80 billion in 2016; then Sh111.5 billion in 2017 rising to Sh149 billion (£1.15 billion) in 2018, the accounts show. This was an increase of more than ninefold in just three years.

    SportPesa’s Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), or turnover – the amount it retains after player winnings have been paid out – also followed a steep trajectory, and stood at Sh20 billion (£155 million) by 2018, up from Sh3.49 billion (£23 million) in 2015.

    By 2019, SportPesa controlled two-thirds of the Kenyan betting market, according to betting declarations obtained separately by Finance Uncovered.

    As a gambling craze swept the nation, a wave of social problems rose steadily in its wake. The government tried introducing new taxes to put the brakes on betting.

    But eventually it could no longer ignore reports of gambling-related suicides, data showing hundreds of thousands of young Kenyans had been blacklisted for bad debts, and public pleas by influential sections of civil society, such as churches, to bring betting under control.

    In July 2019, the government intervened, withdrawing betting licences of 27 companies, including SportPesa. It also ordered telecom companies to stop processing bets on their behalf.

    Out of Kenya, into Europe…

    But by this time billions of shillings bet by ordinary Kenyans in net stakes had been transferred by SportPesa to its companies overseas as it embarked on a major international expansion.

    The accounts for Pevans show the scale of this offshoring: more than one-fifth of its turnover earned in Kenya was transferred out of the country directly.

    To help fund sponsorship deals with the likes of Everton and smaller deals with Arsenal, Southampton and Hull City, the company’s bosses established a new corporate structure.

    In particular, they established related companies in the Isle of Man and the UK.

    And these companies were funded almost entirely by two newly devised revenue streams: a “revenue share” agreement with Pevans, based on a small percentage of the gross bets staked in Kenya; and by billing Pevans for “legal and professional fees”, or shared services.

    These were recorded by Pevans in its accounts as costs, which in turn reduced its profits and its liability for Kenyan corporation tax.

    These offshore structures and related party payments are not illegal and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by SportPesa.

    Based on the accounts it has seen, Finance Uncovered has calculated that in 2017 and 2018, the total of these costs paid to the overseas companies was Shs10.7 billion (£82.4 million).

    Of these, Shs5.46 billion (£42 million) went to the UK company, SPS Sportsoft Ltd, and Shs5.24 billion (£40.5 million) to SP Services Ltd in the Isle of Man.

    As a result of this arrangement, the UK company recorded huge profits, but SportPesa’s bosses were able to reduce their tax bills there, too.

    As Finance Uncovered reported in 2020, the UK company was able to exploit a 1976 Double Taxation Treaty between Britain and Kenya. This allowed it to offset the Withholding Tax it paid in Kenya on the international payments against the UK corporation tax liability.

    This meant it recorded huge post-tax profits in Britain. These were then paid out as dividends to a UK holding company called SportPesa Global Holdings Limited – owned by the same shareholders and in the same proportions as Pevans.

    As of the 2018 year-end, the holding company itself was still sitting on £21.8 million of accumulated profit reserves.

    A £14 million impairment charge on its investment in SportPesa Italy reduced this reserve to £7 million at the end of 2019, according to the holding company’s latest accounts, released earlier this month.

    The Isle of Man company’s profits are unknown, because company accounts are not publicly available in the offshore jurisdiction. However, it would have paid 0% corporation tax on its profits.

    Enter the KRA….

    Whatever expansion plans SportPesa had in 2019, they hit the buffers as soon as the Kenyan government brought operations at its cash cow, Pevans, to a halt.

    In January, the Daily Nation reported many details of the KRA’s preliminary findings of its tax audit of Pevans.

    This revealed that the KRA had questioned the huge legal and professional fees incurred by Pevans in its dealings with its overseas companies.

    The KRA reportedly also said that certain sports sponsorship costs were not allowed under Kenyan law and it reportedly added these back into Pevans’ taxable profits.

    The future for SportPesa is now unclear and there have even been major battles between its original shareholders.

    The public fall-out was triggered in October last year after SportPesa transferred its branding rights from Pevans to a company with a newly acquired Kenyan betting licence, called Milestone Games.

    Finance Uncovered posed a series of questions to SportPesa back in January about the KRA audit as well as about its 2014-2019 financials. SportPesa responded by instructing London law firm Schillings. Schillings said it acted for both Pevans and Milestone.

    In letters exchanged with Schillings over the ensuing months, the law firm said the matter with the KRA was strictly confidential and not subject to public scrutiny. It said its client would not be commenting on any issues relating to the KRA.

    It said Pevans was cooperating “fully” with the KRA.

    Schillings also said the value of dividends and salaries received by individual shareholders and directors was also “private and confidential”. The lawyers said our calculations on dividends – taken from Pevans’ own cash flow statements – were “incorrect” but declined to expand.

    SportPesa has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

    The KRA declined to comment.

    This Article Was First Published On Financial Uncovered.

  • South Sudan Statehouse Official’s Firm Splits A Sh106B Military Housing Deal With Shelter Afrique

    South Sudan Statehouse Official’s Firm Splits A Sh106B Military Housing Deal With Shelter Afrique

    Shelter Afrique, the Pan-African housing development financier, has inked an MoU with Triangle Real Estate, a Juba-based real estate firm to develop 26,000 housing units for South Sudan’s military, through a public-private-partnership special purpose vehicle.

    The project is estimated to cost of $1.5 billion through a public-private-partnership special purpose vehicle, according to press release.

    “We have been mandated by the Ministry of Finance and Planning to source funds for the construction and completion of a defense housing project on behalf of the Government of South Sudan under the Peace Through Development program initiated by President Salvar Kiir in 2018,” said Amb. Arop Deng Kuol, Triangle Real Estate Chief Executive Officer.

    Amb. Kuol noted that the signing of the MOU was critical in addressing the housing crisis in South Sudan, which has been exacerbated by many years of conflicts.

    “The housing crisis in South Sudan is dire. In fact, we are starting from the scratch – the reason this memorandum of understanding we’ve signed with Shelter Afrique is very important for us and is proof that provision of affordable housing is central to the agenda of the government of the South Sudan, not just for the Forces but for the entire population,” said Amb. Kuol.

    Shelter Afrique CEO Andrew Chimphondah said the signing of the MOU with Triangle Real Estate highlights the financier’s critical role in the provision of affordable housing finance across Africa.

    “Our vision is to provide affordable housing for all Africans – including South Sudan. We are proud to be part of this partnership and we look forward to being the pre-eminent provider of financial, advisory and research solutions geared towards solving the housing crisis in South Sudan which has a shortage of 4 million units,” said Chimphondah.

    The Project scope includes development of 148 housing blocks of 160 housing units each at New Site, Qiada Junubiya, J-3 Presidential Guards Apartments, and at New Bonga.

    Under the agreement Triangle Real Estate will act as the developer and contractor of the project in conjunction with various consultants.

    Shelter Afrique, on the other hand, will provide catalytic funding as well as act as the lead arranger to assist in raising additional financing through the syndication of other Developmental Financial Institutions as applicable.

    The MOU was signed in Nairobi by Shelter Afrique Chief Executive Officer Andrew Chimphondah and Triangle Real Estate Chief Executive Officer Amb. Arop Deng Kuol, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance and Planning for the Government of South Sudan.

    Amb. Kuol also noted that the Government of South Sudan was keen on becoming a shareholder of Shelter Afrique and was actively sourcing the budget for the capital subscription fees.

    “In addition to sourcing for finance for the Defense Forces housing project, the government of South Sudan has also mandated Triangle Real Estate and a financial advisor – Benchmark Solutions to source for funds to this effect and we are currently in talks with some potential financiers. We believe that South Sudan should become a member of Shelter Afrique in 2021 when approved at the AGM that will be held on the 24th June 2021,” Amb Kuol added.

    While the project on one hand is displaying a promising face value, critics of the blood drained country are seeing just another public funds plunder scheme clothed as a development project.

    Samuel Bior Garang, a scientist and South Sudanese political commentator based in Kenya is viewing the latest development project as yet another scheme by corrupt government officials to steal from the public in conspiracy with the funding firm.

    “So you will stake $1.5billion to be managed by a company that the biggest project they did in 2018-2020 was completing their headquarters that looks like a residential house, really? This is pure money laundry & smells of mega corruption.” He says in opening statement.

    “Besides this project, is one they had been undertaking since 2019, where did the initial funding come from what necessitated this new funding cycle/what are the modalities of how it’s going to be paid knowing construction is the go-to area by launderers/mega corruption individuals.” Samuel questions.

    Ongoing projects by the firm including a roads construction tender by UN to the same firm.

    “Be sure that South Sudan companies will always ink deals with very shady institutions like themselves, this Shelter Afrique was recently in an eyebrow-raising case in Kenya same thing that will likely happen here in SSudan given their partners are shady.” Said Garang in reference to a case where Shelter Afrique wanted Sunset Paradise Aqa auctioned for failing  to meet with loan requirements on a string.

    “Same things will likely happen here in SSudan given their partners are shady.” Garang casts his doubts.

    Garang’s doubts about the mortgage firm is further fueled by the history where the African Development Bank (AfDB) stopped disbursement of a $8.2 million equity injection into Shelter Afrique after a whistleblower revealed that the housing financier cooked books, which the Bank relied on to make the investment.

    At the time, AfDB decided to withhold the disbursements, pending an audit by Deloitte. Before the sudden cancellation, AfDB announced that it would inject the money into Shelter Afrique to strengthen its balance sheet. But documents that changed minds then showed that the finance department had stated $38 million as non-performing loans, but the statements sent to AfDB showed $27.19 million. Internal documents showed substandard loans at $14.1 million, but only $2.04 million was disclosed to AfDB.

    AfDB’s revelations come barely a fortnight after documents leaked by the firm’s former finance director Godfrey Waweru alleged creative accounting and subprime lending.

    In his whistleblower email to the board, Mr Waweru accused the company’s managing director James Mugerwa of presiding over a regime that was restructuring overdue loans by rescheduling such facilities to appear as performing, effectively understating the volume of toxic mortgages.

    Classified as non-performing

    “The loans are restructured multiple times to ensure they are not classified as non-performing and are therefore hidden NPLs that are not disclosed,” Mr Waweru’s e-mail to the lender’s financiers reads.

    According to the ex-finance chief, the loan impairments are made based on the desired net results, despite a large proportion of the company’s projects having repayment problems and being restructured several times or swapped against assets that do not have a market at the swap rate in a bid to reduce the NPLs and loan impairment charges on the loan portfolio.

    The then Shelter Afrique managing director James Mugerwa resigned, barely two months after the pan-African lender was accused of cooking its books.

    Mr Waweru told the media that under instructions from senior management, some of the loans that have been non-performing have been restructured more than four times in a bid to hide their non-performance status.

    “The company’s true position is that it is loss-making, if we were to capture the non-performing loans as guided by the international accounting standards, without massaging or cooking the books. This has led to a significant understatement of the NPLs and loan impairment charges,” Mr Waweru said in answer to accusations that the firm booked its books.

    South Sudan government officials are widely known for looting public coffers shamelessly that they even gobbled COVID-19 money in the height of the pandemic.

    According to Sentry, a US based investigative outfit looking into South Sudan’s plunder, government officials are to blame for the bleeding of the country as they collaborate with willing institutions to milk dry the war torn country.

    According to Sentry, the men who liberated South Sudan proceeded to hijack the country’s fledgling governing institutions, loot its resources, and launched a war in 2013 that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions of people.

    They did not act alone. The South Sudanese politicians and military officials ravaging the world’s newest nation received essential support from individuals and corporations from across the world who have reaped profits from those dealings. Nearly every instance of confirmed or alleged corruption or financial crime in South Sudan examined by The Sentry has involved links to an international corporation, a multinational bank, a foreign government or high-end real estate abroad. The report examined several illustrative examples of international actors linked to violence and grand corruption in order to demonstrate the extent to which external actors have been complicit in the taking of South Sudan.

    The local kleptocrats and their international partners—from Chinese-Malaysian oil giants and British tycoons to networks of traders from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya and Uganda—have accumulated billions of dollars.

    The country’s natural resources have been plundered, lethal militia and military units responsible for atrocities have received financing and kleptocrats have lined their pockets with untold billions of dollars allocated by government programs meant to improve the livelihood of some of the poorest, most vulnerable people in the world. The spoils of this heist are coursing through the international financial system in the form of shell companies, stuffed bank accounts, luxury real estate and comfortable safe havens around the world for the extended families of those involved in violence and corruption.

    Leading South Sudanese officials and their international commercial collaborators are responsive to commercial and political incentives. Without specific, focused, and targeted consequences, it is unrealistic to think their conduct will change.

    Violence and corruption will remain the norm, meaning that the biggest peace spoiler isn’t a person or an armed group; it is the diseased governing system itself. However, if serious policy tools of financial coercion are aimed at this kleptocratic network, the possibility exists to alter those incentives, which currently favor pillage and plunder, and in turn impact the calculations of the kleptocrats and their international collaborators in the direction of peace and good governance.

    In South Sudan, international actors have been among the major facilitators and beneficiaries of schemes to misappropriate government spending. This section profiles the foreign investors who benefited from several controversial public procurement programs over the past decade.

    Eritrean and other foreign investors were among the main beneficiaries of a $922 million program marred by fraud and embezzlement allegations.

    An unpublished report by South Sudan’s auditor general shows that companies owned by an Eritrean businessman Ghebremeskel Tesfamariam Ghidey received contracts worth approximately $57 million between 2013 and 2015 for the procurement of urgently-needed goods, as part of the $922 million Letters of Credit program.

    Amid a shortage of foreign currency, the initiative aimed to provide companies with the cash needed to purchase fuel, pharmaceuticals and other goods from neighboring countries. Many of the goods never arrived, and information obtained by The Sentry raises doubts about whether Ghebremeskel’s companies fulfilled their obligations. His Ugandan company that was supposed to export a significant portion of these goods to South Sudan did not pay any export taxes until after the Letters of Credit program had concluded—and was not even registered with the tax authority until early 2016.

    A $65 million scandal involving a South Sudanese general and a British tycoon illustrates the impunity enjoyed by kleptocrats and their international collaborators. A company owned by Bior Ajang Duot, a high-ranking South Sudanese general, received $65 million from the government ostensibly earmarked for a mobile radar system, according to an investigation by South Sudanese authorities. The company, Cascade Construction, sent the bulk of these funds—$55 million—to British businessman David Greenhalgh, but the purchased goods reportedly never reached South Sudan.

    The funds transited through bank accounts in multiple jurisdictions. Macedonia eventually flagged them as suspicious and temporarily froze them. In its probe, South Sudanese authorities concluded that funds originating from the deal flowed unusually and suspiciously through accounts without a business rationale where contracts did not justify the transfers.

    Many international companies benefit from South Sudan’s violent kleptocratic system, and some have done business with the actors perpetrating violence. Several multinational corporations have forged formal partnerships with people and entities responsible for atrocities, or otherwise participated in business transactions with them.

    By the time South Sudan became the world’s newest state in 2011, a cabal of military and civilian officials had already captured its main government institutions, enabled by a dizzying array of international actors seeking to profit from a rapidly developing kleptocracy. Factions that had formed during the long war for independence now turned their attention to competing over the control of this new state, which was blessed with billions of dollars of annual oil revenue and no checks and balances or transparency.

    A looting frenzy ensued. Factionalization deepened as networks allied with President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar competed over the vast opportunities for mass theft of resources and state budgets. The uneasy calm only lasted two years before South Sudan erupted into a violent civil war pitting the two main factions against each other, adding to the many fault lines in the country.

    During this period, Kiir and his associates had largely captured the state. Instead of providing services, supporting infrastructure, adjudicating disputes and protecting its people, South Sudan’s governing institutions were hijacked and repurposed for the personal enrichment of Kiir and his clique. Billions of dollars have gone missing and the government has done little for the welfare of its population. This corruption attracted foreign opportunists, who flocked to South Sudan.

    South Sudan’s governing institutions were hijacked and repurposed for the personal enrichment of Kiir and his clique.

    Every incident The Sentry examined had links to an international corporation, a multinational bank, a foreign government or high- end real estate abroad. This report provides several illustrative examples of international actors linked to violence and grand corruption in South Sudan.

    According to our information, Triangle Real Estate is owned by Sudan’s ex-ambassador to Turkey Sebit Bullen Kamonde, a Dinka. Amb. Sebit Bullen Kamonde is the Chief of State Protocol Office of the President of South Sudan.

    Amb. Sebit Bullen Kamonde (Circled)

    Triangle also won the tender to build the compound, which will include a clinic, school and recreation areas, for 700 senior officers of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). Fitting into the description, officials in the government use enabling outside actors to continue milking the bleeding County.

  • JKUAT’s School Of Business Dean Threatens To Block PhD Students From Graduating

    JKUAT’s School Of Business Dean Threatens To Block PhD Students From Graduating

    The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology’s School of Business PhD students are a frustrated lot thanks to new cruel rules introduced by Florence Memba who’s the department’s chairman. According to a section of affected students who talked to Kenya Insights, the ruthless dean has threatened to sabotage their chances of ever graduating should they not bend to her rules.

    “The new dean who has come in is frustrating students and even victimize those who complain of her newly introduced rules. It is obvious some of us will not be able to graduate due to the new dean. She has actually threatened some people that they will not graduate and that they have wasted their fees.” Said one of the students.

    From interviews, we’ve learnt of cases where some student who were ready to submit their final thesis for examination being turned back to do pilot study.

    “CUE guidelines from higher educations board were initiated in 2019, now students like us, who begun in 2017 and some even 2013, who were about to finish, were forced backwards, to begin from pilot study, we have made publications of journals, finished entire thesis, wanting to hand over books for examination, only to be turned back. Efforts to tell her that rules cant not apply retrogressively have only been met with stern warning from her and her prodigies. We are now being victimized for speaking out.” Reads statement from the frustrated students.

    The students had raised these issues on Telegram channel for the class where the dean didn’t hide her threats, aware that her threats in the group could be used against her, the group was quickly pulled down but only before a part of the conversation where her people openly threatened the students.

    Screenshot of the conversation before the group was pulled down.

    “We students have asked her, why introduce the procedures and affect us who are at the end. She says it’s the Cue guidelines, we say ok, then let us do all these presentations that you require once or even weekly and get our “intent” letter she refuses. It has come to a point of some of us being told we simply wasted our fees, we wont graduate.”

    Left with few options, some of the affected students who can’t stomach her rules and ego yet eager to graduate after spending time and money in their studies have taken the school and dean to court over the frustrations.

    “Would you believe she is actually a person who failed at her final PhD defence and had to go back again.” Another student shot.

    We’re calling the JKUAT, Ministry of education and higher learning board to look into this matter and others alike where lecturers intentionally turn rogue on students derailing their graduations purposefully for self gratification. Such characters should not be allowed anywhere near public or private learning institutions. Shame on you!

  • Uhuru Announces New COVID-19 Containment Measures

    Uhuru Announces New COVID-19 Containment Measures

    During his Labour Day address, President Uhuru delivered a highly anticipated reply to cries from many Kenyans on unlocking the country given the suffocating economy. Coming at a time when many piled pressure on the President to ease the strict COVID-19 measurements, the President lifted the cessation of movements in disease zoned areas and announced new measures.

    Below is a cut off his speech announcing the new COVID-19 containment measures coming at a time when the virus is ravaging India.

    Fellow Kenyans,

    Let me end with some reflections on our current COVID-19 status as a nation. When I issued the second Public Order of 2021 in March, announcing the obtaining containment measures, our COVID caseload in Nairobi was 56,815.

    This caseload has now gone down to below 15,000 for the month of April, signifying a 74% decrease in infections in Nairobi.

    Data from our medical experts suggests the same trend in the zoned area we put on lockdown during my March 26th 2021 address. After one month of lockdown, COVID caseload within the zoned area has come down by 72%. In other areas of the Republic, the COVID caseload fell by 89% in Mombasa and 90% in Busia between March and April 2021.

    Given the expert evidence we have received and on the counsel of the National Security Council and the National Emergency Response Committee on Covid-19, I have on this day issued Public Order No. 3 of 2021, as follows:

    I. With regard to the Zoned Area comprising of the counties of Nairobi, Machakos, Kiambu, Kajiado and Nakuru, it is directed that the cessation of movement into and out of the Zoned area be and is hereby lifted;

    II. That the hours of curfew in the Zoned Area are revised to commence at 10:00pm and end at 4:00am, with effect from mid-night on this 1st day of May, 2021, until otherwise directed;

    III. That in-person and congregational worship shall resume in strict fidelity to the guidelines issued by the Inter-Faith Council and Ministry of Health. However, the attending congregation is capped to 1/3 (One-third) of the capacity of the place of worship;

    IV. That the operations of restaurants and eateries in the Zoned Area shall resume in accordance with the guidelines issued jointly by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife. Restaurants are encouraged to utilize outdoor spaces to maximize on physical and social distancing.

    For the entirety of the Republic of Kenya, it is directed as follows:

    I. That all our education institutions in all levels of learning shall re-open in accordance with the calendar issued by the Ministry of Education;

    II. That the resumption of sporting activities shall be guided by the regulations to be issued by the Ministry of Health jointly with the Ministry of Sports;

    III.That all bars in the territory of the Republic are to operate until 7:00 P.M;

    IV. All employers and enterprises are encouraged to allow employees to work from home, with the only exception being with respect to employees working in critical or essential services that cannot be delivered remotely;

    V. That all hospitals are directed to limit the number of visitors for hospitalized patients to one visitor per patient per day;

    VI. That the prohibition against political gatherings is extended until otherwise directed; and

    VII. All the other containment measures and guidelines that are not expressly set-out in this Address remain in force, and shall be enforced dutifully.

    Fellow Kenyans,

    The containment measures we have
    instituted today and all the interventions that
    the Government has made over the last fourteen
    months are geared towards responding to the unprecedented health threat that has gripped the world. We have instituted those containment measures and restrictions with no joy.

    However, as a caring Government, we fully acknowledge that the responsibility bestowed upon us calls for action to secure the lives of our people.

    Over the last year, we have witnessed challenges in other parts of the world, where the surge of infections has nearly led to collapse of globally acclaimed health systems. In moments like this we are all called upon to make sacrifices for one another for the collective good, it is never the intention of the Government to make life difficult or unbearable for any of our citizens.

    Finally, as we prepare for the re-opening of schools, let me emphasize again that our
    staying power in the fight against this pandemic is our greatest arsenal.

    I say so, because, if public responsiveness to the health protocols goes up, then the possibility of further de-escalating the containment measures is within reach. Sadly, a surge of infections will necessitate an escalation of the containment measures, a possibility we all dread.

    Let all step up together for our motherland; step up for our families; step up for our
    neighbours; step up for our beloved Nation Kenya.

  • Exposed: Nairobi’s Acting Governor Kananu And Corrupt MCA Guyo Named In COVID-19 Funds Scam

    Exposed: Nairobi’s Acting Governor Kananu And Corrupt MCA Guyo Named In COVID-19 Funds Scam

    A multi-million-shilling COVID-19 scandal has emerged at City Hall under the watch of acting Governor Anne Kananu.

    The fresh scam which involves distribution of relief food to vulnerable families in Nairobi’s informal settlements as a cushion during the COVID-19 pandemic was an idea of controversial Matopeni MCA Abdi Guyo. The MCA who was instrumental in the impeachment of Governor Mike Sonko is the main beneficiary of the scandal which has seen Sh84 million paid to shadowy companies associated with him and Kananu.

    Last week, Kananu launched a feeding programme targeting over 127,500 vulnerable households across Nairobi’s informal settlements. The programme is aimed at cushioning them against the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The targeted populations are People Living with Disabilities, the elderly and those living with chronic diseases and HIV.

    However, the feeding programme has been hijacked by vicious cartels at City Hall led by Guyo who has the blessing of the acting Governor. A total of six companies who have already been paid the millions are alleged to have supplied the foodstuffs but according to a vocal MCA the feeding programme is a scam since no families have received the relief food over the last one week.

    The foodstuffs that were to be distributed in the feeding programme include sugar, rice, loaves of bread and long-life milk, maize and wheat flour as well as other items such as blankets, sanitary pads and basins.

    ‘I want to confirm that this is a COVID-19 billionaires scandal since some of the slums listed to have benefited from the feeding programme never received the said foodstuffs,” said one of the ODM MCAs when we contacted him.

    Nairobi County Chief Officer for Disaster Management Mohamed Sahal had stated that the department will be going go door to door together with MCAs to donate the foodstuffs to avoid the spread of Covid-19. But Nairobi MCAs have now raised the red flag on the programme saying it’s a scandal which should be stopped before it blows out of proportion.

    Here is a breakdown of the monies paid to the six companies associated with Guyo and his cronies at City Hall.
    ……………………………………..

    We also conducted a search of the companies at the Registrar of Companies and we confirmed that the six companies are linked to Guyo and his cronies at City Hall. Here are the results of the CR12 from the companies.

    ……………………………………………………………..

    According to sources at the Nairobi City County Assembly, it would be difficult for the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to prosecute individuals at the center of the scam since the EACC Deputy CEO and Director of Investigations Mohamud Abdi is a close associate of Guyo in their get rich business deals at City Hall.

    New but besieged Kananu was recently forced to pay a visit to Raila after City Hall wars threatened to bring her down, together with Guyo who’s been linked to terror gang Gaza as a financier.