Category: Investigations

The U.N. Sec Gen had already praised the IEBC for conducting a free and fair elections going further to congratulate president elect, Uhuru for the win. In a statement, U.N. advised aggrieved parties to seek legal redress. NASA leader Raila Odinga who has now petitioned the IEBC declaration, suggested for the U.N. to arbitrate and audit the election results but the body instantly rejected his plea. Despite poll violence and electoral discrepancies coming out of the election, the U.N. alongside other international bodies who hurriedly endorsed the electoral process have gone on a deafening silent. Matthew Russel, an investigative journalist based on the U.N. HQ, New York, has been trailing the U.N. levels of involvement in the Kenya’s election asking the most uncomfortable elections.

UNITED NATIONS, August 21 – After the murder of Kenyan electoral official Chris Msando, Inner City Press on August 1 put the question at the UN to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here and below. After Kenya moved to de-register a second human rights group, Inner City Press asked lead UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric on August 15, UN transcript here and below. Inner City Press has learned, and exclusively reports, that Kenya(tta) foreign ministry official Monica Juma has been offered a top job in Jeffrey Feltman’s UN Department of Political Affairs, to replace Taye-Brook Zerihoun. She was granted six months to “sit” on the job, to help Kenya(tta), as one source put it to Inner City Press. By contrast, former UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai was stopped at Nairobi’s airport and questioned about his right to fly out of the country.

The UN had said nothing (just as it did not even raise Cameroon’s detention of former UN legal adviser Felix Agbor Balla when meeting this month with long-time president Paul Biya’s delegation.) So on August 21, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: on Kenya and the election, it seems like more and more questions are being raised about the the validity of the results that were announced. And there’ve been at least two UN things I wanted to ask you about. One is that the former Special Rapporteur, Maina Kiai, was detained at the airport when he sought to leave the country, and also Roselyn Akombe, as, as you know… I guess I wanted to… there’s been a lot of coverage there about when does she intend… she took a leave of absence to work on that commission. She left the country saying she was coming to New York for meetings. Did she meet anyone in the UN? When’s her expected time to return to UN service…

Spokesman: We’ve given you some updates on her status in January, if I if I recall. I’m not aware of any, of any updates, and I’m not aware of any meetings she may, she may have had here.

Inner City Press: And does the UN have, I guess… you know, it’s a Special Rapporteur, which I understand is an independent UN position, but what do you say about a…

Spokesman: I’ll check.

Inner City Press: …human rights defender being detained?

Spokesman: I’ll check on that situation.

Five hours later, nothing. Now the dismissive or vague position of today’s UN to press freedom is further exemplified by silence on the reported detention at gunpoint of blogger Robert Alai, here. The UN’s resident coordinator in Kenya has, for example, blocked the critical Press on Twitter; UN Spokesman Farhan Haq on August 19 had no specific comment when Inner City Press asked about detentions by Morocco of citizen journalists reporting on the crackdown in the Rif. (Lead UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric evicted Inner City Press and still restricts it, for its coverage in the Press Briefing Room of the UN bribery case against now-conficted Ng Lap Seng.) The UN is losing its way, including in Kenya. On August 18, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: In Kenya, now the EU has called for the making public of the local results. There seems to be more and more question about the way they were conveyed, and a lot of international actors that don’t have as big a presence in Nairobi as the UN does have called for this type of data to be produced. I wanted to know what is the UN’s… he’s already… the Secretary-General’s already, you know, congratulated and apparently, called the results final, President Kenyatta, but what is the UN’s… does the UN join these calls for the release of those data, or what’s their position?

Deputy Spokesman: Well, our position has been that any complaints need to be worked out through the established system. Apparently, there are signs from the various parties that that is what’s going on and we will monitor that process as it continues.

Inner City Press: And I wanted to ask. I became aware yesterday that… that… and I would like you to confirm that the DPA position currently held by Tayé-Brook Zerihoun has been offered to a Monica Juma, who is a Kenyan Government official in the Foreign Ministry, and I would like to know… apparently, the position was given to her, and she was given six months to take it or not so that this process would take place.

What is the, what is the status of that second highest position in DPA currently, and why wasn’t it advertised?

Deputy Spokesman: Well, at this, at this point, as you know, Mr. Zerihoun has the post. When there’s another appointment to be made, we’ll announce that, but we have not made another announcement.

Inner City Press: But why wouldn’t a position of that height be, be advertised for people to apply?

Deputy Spokesman: We have processes that, that apply to all of the various high positions. I believe we have competitive processes, including interview processes, for, for all of the senior position, and we’ll make the announcement when it happens. I wouldn’t have any confirmation of how this process was carried about, but, and at this stage, like I said, I don’t have an announcement for Mr. Zerihoun, even for any departure. Once we have that announcement, we’ll, we’ll make that.

On August 17, amid lack of transparency about the detention and itinerary of a UN official on leave, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: as you may know in Kenya, the former or future DPA (Department of Political Affairs) employee Roselyn Akombe, who has given a leave of absence to work on the Electoral Commission there, attempted to leave the country and was detained at the airport. It’s now said that she’s come to New York for meetings. So, I wanted to know two things. Number one, is she having any meeting with the UN since you said she’s coming to New York on official business? Number two, when she was given this leave of absence — it’s become quite controversial. As you know, the commission is getting sued for being not less than impartial — did the Ethics Office look at this granting of a leave of absence? What’s her current status with the UN? And, also, it’s come up because she appealed to the US embassy there. For purposes of UN, is she from Kenya or from the United States?

Deputy Spokesman: I wouldn’t have any comment on her nationality. I don’t comment on the nationality of staff members. But… [inaudible]

Question: Given that the person was detained and… okay.

Deputy Spokesman: But I am aware that she was on a leave of absence. At some point, I believe, fairly soon, it will be expiring and then she will return to her duties in the Department of Political Affairs.

Question: So she has no contacts in the UN during this week? Because it’s a big story in Kenya that she’s come to New York and she says she coming to New York for work related to the election. So, I guess my question to you is, does this New York visit have any UN connection?

Deputy Spokesman: I wouldn’t comment on her work until she’s rejoined the United Nations. She’s not… at the time that she’s on leave, she is a separate individual. Ms. Akombe, at some point, will re-join the Department of Political Affairs, and then she’ll be a UN staffer.

In joining the IEBC, Dr. Akombe took a reported 70 percent pay cut. “She has been granted special leave without pay to serve in the Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. She’ll provide technical electoral support to the Commission in preparation for the 2017 elections and support efforts to prevent post‑electoral violence in Kenya. The activity was approved in accordance with staff regulations… the proper staff regulations and staff rules,” said Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, in a January 23 briefing, shortly after she was sworn in.

 

Inner City Press: there’ve now been more than one NGO shut down at this period of time in which they could be filing petitions. And there’s many more… there are doubts whether… whether substantive or not, about how the results were transmitted. So, beyond this Kenya National Human Rights Commission, something called Africog [phonetic] has also been suddenly deregistered by the… by the authorities. That would be the winning candidate or the said to be winning candidate. So, I just wanted to know, what… the country team there, what do they think of the closing down of the NGOs in the country during…

Spokesman: I don’t have enough information on these particular NGOs. You can contact the country team directly. I know you’re been in contact with them. What is clear for us is that there are constitutional means that need to be respected as part of the election for any appeals and, obviously, echo the High Commissioner’s call for restraint and for peaceful… for supporting the right of people to demonstrate peacefully but a call for calm and restraint.

On August 14, Inner City Press asked Dujarric’s deputy Farhan Haq, video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: there were these two different statements, one about provisional results, then final results, but, in the country, one, how many people does the UN believe have been killed in post-election violence? What’s the UN’s reaction to Raila Odinga asking for the UN to play some role in looking into fraud he says he’s going to announce tomorrow, Tuesday? And there’s a group called the Kenya Human Rights Commission, which has been deregistered just before filing a petition concerning the election. Does the UN believe that the current legal structures, especially if you have petitioners deregistered moments before filing, is a credible one? What does the UN, given its presence in Nairobi, think about the deaths and this deregistration?

Deputy Spokesman: Obviously, we’re concerned about any violence. As I just mentioned, what we’ve been doing, including through the Secretary-General, is calling on all political leaders to send clear messages to their supporters urging them to refrain from violence, and that’s a key part of this process. You’re aware of our concerns in other previous elections, presidential elections in Kenya, and those concerns continue to apply. Regarding Mr. Odinga’s request, obviously, we’ll wait to see what he has to say tomorrow and monitor that, but I would point out, as I just said, that the Secretary-General called on political leaders disputing the election results to address election-related disputes through the relevant constitutionally mandated institutions, and that is where we stand on that.

On August 7, Inner City Press asked Dujarric about the deportation of two of Raila Odinga’s consultants, American John Phillips, chief executive of political consultancy Aristotle, and Canadian Andreas Katsouris. Dujarric replied with generalities; Inner City Press asked, so the deportations are bad? There was no clear answer. Now this: on August 10 Inner City Press asked Dujarric, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: In Kenya, Raila Odinga, the candidate, has said that there’s been hacking of the system, but the President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, has offered his congratulations. What’s the UN’s view? One, do they think that the rule-of-law process to review is being conducted, is that process over?

Spokesman: No, I, as far as I know, the the official election results have yet to be announced. We’re, obviously, watching the situation unfold. We’re watching it closely. As you know, the UN did not observe, did not have a role in observing the elections. I think what’s important is that all stakeholders, all people in Kenya, allow the process to follow its course and, if they have any grievances, that they channel those through legal and peaceful means. We reiterate the call of the Secretary-General for maintaining calm and ensuring strict respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in this time while people await, and understandably await eagerly the official results. From the August 1 transcript:

Inner City Press: in the run-up to the elections in Kenya, the head of the electronic voting, Chris Msando, has been murdered and I wanted to know, what is the UN… various countries have expressed concern, offered to send investigators, has the resident coordinator or anyone in the UN system, what do they think of this murder?

Spokesman: Obviously, I think it’s, the fact that a member of the electoral commission was murdered, in what appears to be such a gruesome way, is shocking and can only be condemned. We hope that the perpetrators are found and brought to justice. I think Kenya is entering a very, obviously a very delicate period with the upcoming elections, and we would not want to see any increase or violence or disturbance.

Inner City Press: Can you say what the UN’s role, does it have any role? I know that there was somebody who used to work at DPA [Department of Political Affairs] who is now working on the elections as a Kenyan national, but is there a UN role?

Spokesman: I can check. I’m not aware of any role, but I’m happy to check.

Twenty-three hours later, nothing. But UN Department of Public Information’s Nairobi “UNIC” has responded online that the UN did speak out, attaching a statement referring to the “sudden demise” of Msango. He was tortured and murdered. That is NOT speaking out, and is consistent with UN Resident Coordinator Siddharth Chatterjee’s strikingly pro-government blatherings in the country, of the kind the many say got the Resident Coordinator in Myanmar removed from the job – or “promoted,” in UN-speak. Chatterjee was named Resident Correspondent by his father in law Ban, without recusal. On August 2, with Dujarric not having provided any answer on the UN’s electoral role, Inner City Press asked him again, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: the UN statement, apparently the most recent one, still calls it a sudden demise and given that the autopsy has shown that he was both tortured and murdered and the EU has called for an investigation, is the UN wanting there to be an investigation?

Spokesman: Of course, of course, there should be an investigation. I think anyone who is found murdered deserves to have an investigation into the killings. I think in this particular instance, given the political climate in Kenya and given the upcoming elections, it’s obviously extremely important that following what has clearly been the murder of a senior member of the electoral commission, that that be investigated and the perpetrators be brought to justice.

Inner City Press: When they called it a sudden demise, they didn’t yet know it was a murder?

Spokesman: Listen, I think, you’re, as I said, the UNIC is obviously in contact with you. You are free to call.

Inner City Press: They tweeted.

Spokesman: No, you know their numbers are public. You can go and ask them directly. You don’t need me to be sandwiched between you and them. And I did, I think you had asked about the UN’s role, and… and UNDP is, through an electoral cycle, based 2015-2018 project called Supporting Electoral Processes in Kenya, supporting various Kenyan institutions to prepare for credible and peaceful general elections in August. The project focuses on strengthening the institutional and legal framework for the electoral process; increasing the participation of voters, parties, and candidates in the electoral process with an emphasis on women, youth and people living with disabilities; promoting efficient and transparent and peaceful elections; and strengthening electoral justice. The UN has also engaged the importance of peaceful and credible elections, both for the country and the region, by working consultation with regional organizations and the wider international community.

Back on February 17 as the UN discussed enforced disappearances with restricting the Press’ ability to cover them, Inner City Press asked UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq why the UN’s Resident Coordinator in Kenya Siddharth Chatterjee, Ban Ki-moon’s son in law promoted by him without recusal, was silent in at least two cases.

Siddharth Chatterjee has two days later reached out to seek an agreement, in advance, to publish whatever he chooses to send in. Inner City Press, in turn, requested, as it did in person in New York in September, an on camera interview which it would publish live and in its entirety.

Along with the above, and what Chatterjee was doing recently in Addis Ababa lobbying in connection with the race for top African Union post, Inner City Press has conveyed in advance questions ranging from whether or not Chatterjee previously got an article about one of his promotions taken off the Internet after making an illegal offer of a job in his father in law’s Secretariat to his role in the Jaffna Hospital Massacre and other specific war crimes in Sri Lanka. We hope to get answers to these questions and to publish them. Watch this site.

From the UN’s February 17 transcript:

Inner City Press: it’s the tenth anniversary of this Convention on enforced disappearances. So, I’d asked you, I think, on Monday about this… these case of two South Sudanese who have disappeared in Kenya. You said you’re aware of the reports so, two things. One, I’m wondering, who in the UN system is engaging with the Kenyan Government or the South Sudan Government about that? Why hasn’t the Resident Coordinator in Kenya? I mean the Nigeria one is speaking about when Boko Haram will be done. Has anything been said by the UN in-country about these people that have been disappeared presumably by the Government and returned to South Sudan?

Deputy Spokesman: Well, first of all, I believe that there are Special Rapporteurs dealing with this particular situation. There’s… one of our human rights instruments deals with the question of disappearances. And so they’re looking into this matter, and we’ll try to get information from them first and foremost. And then other parts of the system can work on that as needed.

Inner City Press: Sure. And then can I, there’s a high-profile case in France of a 22-year-old person that was arrested on video and has said to have been raped or sodomized during the arrest. His name is Theo. And there have been riots in France for several days on it. I’ve checked at least everything that’s been sent out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. I haven’t seen anything. Is the UN aware of this case? And what do they think of… of both police treatment of people in France and of how the protests are being dealt with?

Deputy Spokesman: Well, regarding protests, of course, we want to make sure that the freedom of expression and the freedom of peaceful assembly are upheld. Beyond that, this is a case that, ultimately, the judicial system would need to look into, and we’ll have to see where they go with that.

Back on January 25 with at least these two, South Sudanese threatened with deportation by Kenya, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric for the UN’s response. From the UN transcript:

Inner City Press: extradition questions, not South Korea extradition but are you aware of the impending extradition of South Sudanese human rights lawyer Samuel Luak, who defended Pagan Amum? Basically, a number of highly respected groups are saying that, if he’s deported, he will face unjust treatment. So I’m wondering, has the UN…

Spokesman Dujarric: I, I have, don’t have an update here, but, again, you can check locally with the mission.

Inner City Press: So that would be the resident coordinator? I’m talking about in Kenya.

Spokesman: In Kenya, you can check with the UN Information Centre in Nairobi.

Dujarric was until December 31 the spokesman for Ban Ki-moon, who before he left the UN promoted his own son in law Siddharth Chatterjee to the top UN post in Kenya, as Resident Coordinator.

In December as Kenya detained journalist Jerome Starkey, Ban Ki-moon’s son in law Chatterjee was entirely silent. Like his father in law has proved to be with the Press in New York, he is at heart a censor. But it makes a mockery of Ban Ki-moon’s post-Sri Lanka claims of “Rights Up Front,” even as Ban angles to run for President on South Korea.

In fact, in Sri Lanka Ban’s son in law is implicated in presumptive war crimes, the Jaffna Hospital massacre and the crushing of civilians with tanks. And it’s from him that Ban took his advice on Sri Lanka, where Ban oversaw the killing of more than 40,000 civilians.

Ban is allowing those scribes who ignore this and praise him to sell access to him on December 16 for $1200 on Wall Street. We’ll have more on this.

Tellingly, as the UN’s Resident Coordinator in Kenya, Ban’s son in law Chatterjee has remained silent not only on the targeting of South Sudanese but on the protests profiled in a study released by Article 19, here.

Ban’s son in law ignores Ban’s supposed “Rights Up Front,” given his action in Sri Lanka (see below) and because he is entirely unaccountable: he could only be fired by Ban Ki-moon, his father in law. Nepotism is harmful.

On December 3 Inner City Press reported the ever-increasingly likelihood that Ban Ki-moon’s son in law Chatterjee was involved in crimes of war in Sri Lanka, which neither Ban’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric nor Chatterjee himself, when asked in the UN lobby, was willing to answer.

For some time Inner City Press has heard that Chatterjee, as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka, was a war criminal. Inner City Press asked Ban’s spokesman Dujarric if Chatterjee was involved in the Jaffna University raid, or the Jaffna hospital massacre, without an answer.

In the UN lobby, Chatterjee said he would answer at an “opportune time.” He has not answered. Chatterjee had his commander, Dalvir Singh, write a defense on Huffington Post and elsewhere, identifying himself as the commander of Chatterjee and of the 10th Para commandos.

Credits to Matthew Russel, Inner City Press. He specializes in investigating the fraud activities within U.N. 

The opinions are writer’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those those Kenya Insights. 

 

Chris Musando, the ICT director who was killed this weekend. An atmosphere of terror engulfed Kenya Monday afternoon after the police reported that a top electoral commission official earlier reported missing had been killed. Mr. Christopher Musando, the ICT director for IEBC, went missing on Friday night, hours after a television interview on the reliability of the voter identification and results transmission technology that is central to the August 8 election.

The police reported that Musando’s body was found dumped near Kikuyu Town on Sunday, alongside that of an unidentified woman, and taken to City Mortuary where relatives identified it this morning, according to Daily Nation online and other sources.

The recovery of the body alongside that of woman sparked heated discussion by Kenyans on social media following an early morning allegation by Jubilee MP Moses Kuria that, while the country was looking for the IEBC official, he was in fact in voluntary hiding, “enjoying sweet time with a woman”. Mr. Kuria later deleted the post, a screenshot of which is provided below.

Mr. Musando’s disappearance on the eve of the testing of the commission’s IT system for the election, earlier planned to for this morning, raised concern about the preparations for the election since the good functioning of the system is at the heart of the credibility of the election. His cold blood killing sent chills down the spine of electoral officials and Kenyans at large as to whether the election will be conducted in a free environment.

Police said they were called and informed of the discovery of the Land Rover Discovery near Thika Road Mall (TRM). The car had been locked and seemed to have been there for a while.

There are many questions around his death. According to the police, he was last seen along Mombasa Road in the company of a woman. For his car to be found in Roysambu one asks as to how with all security cameras couldn’t detect his car beyond and how it got to Roysambu?

The car was found scratch free meaning Msando didn’t struggle with his killers out of the car. He was either lured to his death trap by the woman or by someone he knew closely and were meeting to share crucial information. What is clear is he wasn’t killed inside his car, he might have been captured and killed elsewhere before being dumped at the Kikuyu forest. If he met his death by being lured to the scene by a trusted party then it means a woman in the picture is a creation and the body of the lady found at the crime scene was killed elsewhere and planted there.

Who tipped the police of bodies at the forest? Was any report made at any police station that a body had been found & transported? Kikuyu being in Kiambu County, how then was it arrived at to bring the body to City Mortuary in Nairobi County. This is not the standard practice.

Police said they were called and informed of the discovery of the Land Rover Discovery near Thika Road Mall (TRM). The car had been locked and seemed to have been there for a while. That area is filled with CCTV, a quick search would tell who drive the car and abandoned it there. Since his phones were off, police can also tell the curious public how they found the car.

A mysterious Twitter account that would later be amplified by Itumbi’s mention, broke the news on Twitter that Msando was actually fine and having a good time with mpango wa kando, she closed with ‘uncle ako sawa’. Coincidentally, Moses Kuria on a Facebook post that has since her deleted ranted how Msando was an idiot having a good time when world reported him missing. They had the same tune of the story that looked more coordinated than accidental.

Its also coming out that Msando had reported death threats he received to the central police where he demanded security but was ignored. Why did the police leave exposed a man that holds a central and key managerial position in the crucial Kenyan election?

In most assassinations, there’s always an attempt to disguise and fake a scene to make death accidental, Msando killers didn’t struggle to stage a scene they sent a direct and chilling message of cold murder. They wanted to spread fear terror amongst IEBC officials and anyone in the electoral system.

From the impact on his body of broken arm signs of strangulation on his neck, blunt objects wound clear signs that he was tortured. That only happens when one is extracting information from a target. It is done with maximum brutality

Now that Msando was a key brain child behind hacker proof KIEMS. He was one of the few people with knowledge of the location of IEBC servers. Those torturing him to extract information, did they succeed to get this information? What was the information? And how beneficial is this information to the killers? How will they use it? The good or bad?

Media from the inception has been pushing a silent narrative that Msando was one of few with crucial information on their servers. What if someone said the KIEMS system can’t work because custodian to a crucial system gate pass is dead? Would this translate to system reversion to manual voting or alternatively using an insecure KIEMS system? Msando is on record saying the system he’s developed was hacker proof that no one would break in to manipulate data as it was the case in 2013. His competence caused unease to some who would’ve loved to spike the system. In 2013, he said system didn’t fail, it was deliberately failed but he vowed to make it work this August as the surest way of keeping dead voters away and preventing ballot stuffing.

Lastly, who would be benefiting most from Msando’s death in the political hierarchy? Whichever way you looking it, the biggest beneficiary is the murderer.

 

Airtel which is the second in command after Safaricom in the Kenya teleco market, seem to have joined the scam league that has become synonymous with Safaricom. The leading service provider has been entangled in unending fraud allegations from data bungling to airtime sublime accusations. Often, customers are treated to explanations that never piece up, and when pushed they refund. In the latest case, Safaricom was forced to refund in billions airtime that was stolen from customers through the backdoor and illegal subscription to a premium service, Cheza Game. Safaricom customers have lodged complaints on social media over conspicuous data consumption to which a dead ear has been turned on.

Airtel has enjoyed excellent customer relations with minimal complaints on service delivery. While battling to stay afloat despite Safaricom dominance in the market, Airtel prides as one of the best in service delivery and unique products. With a clean track record, It has come as a surprise that the teleco is silently being involved in a fraud scheme.

Complaints from customers 

During the past few days, customers have been undergoing major fleecing on the Kopa Credo platform, A service that allows customers to get airtime on debt. It is unclear the basis behind the hitch on this system whether deliberate or not but it is rather weird how they’re going about it. According to Airtel, there is a technical fault on their platform that is overcharging customers on their airtime debt.

Ordinarily, such a glitch should be detected in the onset and quickly reset, but this has taken days with their clients victimized, forced to pay for what they never took to continue enjoying the services. Response on their social media pages affirms that there’s a problem, but they’re taking forever to reset the system. Worry is, will Airtel refund the extra airtime deducted and how sure will it be that all affected customers will get reimbursed. One can easily fleece millions in such schemes without being held accountable. This right here is a scandal in itself that must be kept an eye on. Airtel must not only assure refunds will be made but give records of the same, customers who’re not able to voice their frustrations on social media might suffer the loss in silence.

Unless Airtel is using cheap services of second-floor colleges technicians, It doesn’t make meaningful sense that a minor hiccup in the system would stay days to rectify if the intention wasn’t to create such a crisis to make a killing. With estimated 18% market share, Airtel can easily make millions daily from a fabricated technical hitch. Times are bad.

@AIRTEL_KE I've bought airtime worth 200 Bob. It has been deducted apparently to pay a debt and that I still owe 500 bob. How??

— Lodbrok (@WWambua_) May 3, 2017

And customers paying unrealistic debts they didn’t ask for in the first place

My patience has run out…please.refund my airtime! Do you guys even give 1000 bob airtime 'loans???'
Since when??? pic.twitter.com/LvaHJZyjLY

— God's Favourite (@Shallie_) May 3, 2017

Even those who didn’t apply for the Kopa credo being victimized

@AIRTEL_KE how come you claim 259 from me while I did not kopa my number 0731245402

— saitoty (@John_saitoty) May 3, 2017

 

On Monday, the entire country went into a communication blackout thanks to the shutdown of Safaricom operating system that would last for two straight hours before a shaky regain that went on for ages. The network outage began at about 9.40 a.m. and persisted till 4.30 p.m. during these hours, voice, data, texts, and Mpesa transactions remained inaccessible, the impact for such a player in the telecom market that it dominates remains immeasurable.

With 27.7 million customers, 71.2 percent of the market share, Safaricom is the largest telecoms firm in Kenya with a significant presence in the financial services market through its M-Pesa platform. According to the Communication Authority’s data, about Sh3.3 trillion moved through the M-Pesa platform in the year to December 2016 — translating to an average Sh9 billion per day or about Sh376.7 million every hour. During the system fallout on Monday, it’s estimated the company made a loss of 2.6B, and that’s only through the Mpesa services if you factor in voice, text, and data then you get a huge deficit.

With the enormous responsibilities that Safaricom holds in the financial sector through Mpesa services, Monday’s outage had a domino effect on the economy, bringing to the fore a worst-case scenario that the Treasury warned about last year.
Multiple banks have hooked up their systems to M-Pesa, including Kenya’s biggest KCB. A good number of services delivery companies have pinned their payment system to Mpesa, and the freeze meant no business. The damage cost is beyond bad taste.

Safaricom remains a big target for cyber criminals, but the company boasts of the impenetrable barrier reef. Recently, Safaricom’s Risk Management unit detected the intrusion and immediately escalated the incident to the security agencies. “Safaricom maintains a state-of-the-art information security system which quickly triggers an alarm if a breach is detected. This matter is being treated with the seriousness it deserves with the suspects due to be arraigned in court. I wish to assure our customers that all their data is safe and we have no evidence of any money being removed from the system,” said Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom. One customer lost Sh266,000 through an unauthorized SIM Swap by a Ugandan suspect who was arrested and charged, however, proactive action saw them refunded immediately after the incident.

Collymore says Safaricom routinely and proactively implements preventative and detective controls around its information security on all its platforms.

The firm holds the globally acclaimed ISO 27001 Information Security Management System certification that confirms adherence and implementation of appropriate processes and controls relating to mobile data, mobile money services, cloud services, billing and customer support services. With all these bravadoes, it bears logic how they went off for that long time. Kenya Insights has reached out to several technical insiders but who’re beyond scared to talk as they’re under warning and full surveillance from talking to media and leaking the main factors behind the system freeze. Worry not as we’re in full trail and will soon publish what exactly happened and why Safaricom is fighting hard not to let out the secret.

For now, one thing is clear that the country can’t afford to be held at ransom with Safaricom with its dominance, it’s a shame a country with several SPs went into total communication blackout. There’s need to spread the risk and create a level play business environment. It is time Mpesa which remains Safaricom’s most valued product cutting its bar higher than the risk be separated from its communication services. CA has to play its regulatory role by implementing strict balancing policies without puppetry and bullied by the giant. Safaricom has on several occasions shutdown attempts to level the market space, and CA has not been any helpful. It is not surprising that telecom companies keep coming to Kenya and going.

Going to the General election, that will run on an electronic platform and the vulnerability of the country to violence on the slightest provocation, Kenya can’t afford to risk running such an exercise on a nervous network system. A failure on the Safaricom system during voter tallying and results transmission would be catastrophic. With such a loophole, it is highly possible that rogue elements would either work internally or sabotage the system from outside to interrupt Safaricom transmission for result manipulation.

It shouldn’t surprise that during the elections, a similar shutdown happens and while the technical team works to restore the system, results manipulation would be ongoing by the instigators. It would go off when one candidate is ahead of polls, switch to manual transmission then roll back hours later digitally when the reverse has been done. This is a reality we’re staring at. It is for such logistics risks that IEBC must but entirely rely on mobile subscribers but start considering satellite options for smooth transmission. During the last elections, CORD in their petition before the Supreme court has accused Safaricom of having colluded with Jubilee in electoral fraud; they’re moving to the Aug polls with the same suspicious cap.

 

In Kenya, a highly polarized and tribal country, winning a party ticket in its dominant region amounts to getting elected in the general elections. It is for this reason that party primaries are so it die especially in the strongholds. The political heat in the country is currently roasting with violence reported across the country.

ODM kicked off their primaries in the past days, and it has not been any smooth with rigging claims and also violence reported but this is not surprising not just on ODM but all parties, chaos, favoritism, violence and rigging claims has often been a trademark of the nominations.

Jubilee’s primaries kicked off Friday morning, and despite President’s warnings and Tuju’s endless assurances of smooth nonviolent nominations, things haven’t been as predicted with early signs of disasters, polls have been called off in certain areas.

One would as just how democratic is the party nomination of candidates, do voters or the party itself get the intended leader with imposing fears floating around. In Busia, Otuoma accused election officials of rigging him out of ODM ticket for Incumbent Ojaamong. But just how sure are we that Otuoma was voted clean as he claims. There are claims that Otuoma is a Jubilee mole this is about him and Ababu Namwamba ditching the party for Labour Party which has since paid allegiance to Jubilee. In essence, it is expected that party candidate is nominated by party members, but there’s a big loophole in the system that has allowed party nominations to be infiltrated by enemies of the party.

Parties rely on IEBC register during nominations leaving the door open for anyone to vote for any candidate regardless of their initial affiliation. It is easier, for example, a Jubilee candidate to sponsor voters to field in a weaker ODM candidate in their primaries to give them an easy run during the general elections. There’s no clear separating factor to lock out dishonest elements from infiltrating nominations and take advantage. It is for this reason that nomination tallying don’t necessarily tell the popularity of said candidate.

Loopholes in the system give fraud elements to vote more than once; you’d not be surprised to hear cases of people who would’ve voted thrice this year, and this is simple; one can participate in ODM primaries, next week on Jubilee’s and during General election.

Jubilee party knew of this critical loophole and attempted a game changer, voting smart card, this would ensure only registered members of the party to participate in the primaries, therefore, locking out nonmembers from invasion. You’d be interested to know that even Jubilee’s opponents bought the cards in bulk and registered their own, this was in readiness to infiltrate the voting during Jubilee’s nominations. This is telling you in plain that opponents take advantage of each other during nominations. The Smart card which fetched almost Sh200M for the Jubilee party has since been called off and remains one of the biggest scams in the party. Jubilee is playing the traditional electoral fraud as well.

Nairobi nominations which were scheduled for Friday have been pushed to Monday with the party citing that Friday would interfere with prayers for the Muslims. You wonder why they didn’t factor this in during the scheduling and why voting goes on sale Friday in other areas including neighboring Kiambu. With the voting loophole that I’ve elaborated above, those who’ve voted in Kiambu, Murang’a et al today Friday, could quickly come to Nairobi on Monday and vote without any detection. Now read the game plan if there’s any.

Summarily, Kenya is yet to acquire full democratic party nomination process, so many loopholes still exist for manipulation. People lie, numbers don’t but not all the times.

 

Bundotich Zedekiah Kiprop aka Bundeki is a man making serious political waves in the Uasin Gishu politics and a nightmare to the incumbent Governor Jackson Mandago. The billionaire businessman who made a last minute entrance into the governorship race is said to be standing at a high point in getting the Jubilee ticket that would guarantee him the governor position.

Running one of the most expensive campaigns in the country, Bundotich is estimated to have pumped Sh500M into his campaign kitty which is slippery oiled with a dozen of branded choppers not to mention cars and trucks. Popularly known as Buzeki acronym for his names, Bundotich is a severe threat to Mandago. The billionaire is fronted by Deputy President Ruto and is said to be pumping the unmentioned amount of resources into his campaign. Ruto and Mandago had previously broken ranks.

However, the Bundotich and Ruto friendship didn’t start yesterday and dates back to years when Ruto was penetrating the Kalenjin region and making a name for himself. As we learn from a highly placed talking on anonymity conditions to Kenya Insights, the bonding factor for this friendship is incredibly weird.

“The Bundotich guy used to be Ruto’s supporter and his mtu wa mkono.” Our source opens up. They would traverse the community as he hunted for votes, by then Bundotich was already molding his business enterprise but was too small for recognition. Then during one of his political activities, Ruto charged Bundotich with distributing cash to his supporters in plain terms voter bribery. After being handed Sh 1M I hard cash to dish out, ‘kujipanga my fren’ spirits came down on him and it is then that Bundotich took off with the money and disappeared into thin air. But that was nothing to Ruto, one million for a man making millions from only God knows which deals, he let it slide.

Bundotich took the money and invested, opened up Buzeki Milk which later grew up to a major dairy firm buying off Molo milk. After some time, William got wind of Bundotich and him opening a company obviously with the loot he took from him. Ruto sent his men to deliver Bundotich to his home. Naturally, the little entrepreneur was scared to soiling his pants thinking he had been finally trapped and that Ruto was going to squeeze the life out of his nini for running away with his cash.

Contrary to his expectations, Ruto gave him a hearty welcome, he was amazed at the level of intelligence, Ruto congratulated him expressing his impression on the fact that he used the money he stole from him to invest. He saw the potential in the young man, and that’s how they became business partners and friends. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

Mr. Kiprop Bundotich is now the Executive Director and founder of Buzeki Group of Companies, a major business conglomerate in Kenya. Mr. Bundotich, the self-motivated and resourceful entrepreneur with sharp business acumen, has developed the Buzeki business group to emerge as a major player in the Logistics and heavy commercial transportation industry in East Africa. He has an immense wealth of experience spanning more than 14 years in the transport logistics and dairy industry which has been effectively utilized to provide a solid foundation for all the Buzeki Group’s ventures.

Mr. Bundotich diversified into the transport and logistics business under Buzeki Enterprises Limited
The success of Buzeki Enterprises led Mr. Bundotich to establish the Dairy division of Buzeki.
Under his dynamic leadership, Buzeki Group has emerged as a leading customer focused organization and has been motivated to undertake massive efforts to expand operations to various sectors of the economy to respond to the ever-growing needs in the Transport & Logistics, Dairy, Oil, Motor-Vehicle & Cement Sectors.

A Little Bird tells Kenya Insights that the two are importing maize as well so you might want to direct your questions to who you know now why flour prices are going up despite zero rating speech delivered time back.

 

Michael Joseph, Popularly known to may as Mr. 10% was forced by Vodafone to Quit over Integrity and a ” Bad Image ” resulting from the exposes that were revealed by the Safaricom KPMG Forensic Audit Report.

To those not in the know, Michael Joseph earned the Mr. 10% Title because of his habit of demanding for a 10% commission for any deal/tender during his stint as Safaricom CEO. He is now as KQ and Kenyans are expecting miracles from him to turn over the national carrier that is now a cash-cow for cartels.

Vodafone is now trying to clean its house by kicking out all the ” bad guys ” that have done irreparable damage to their brand. The Safaricom KPMG Audit exposed many Scandals and a number of procurement weaknesses within East Africa’s most successful company, Safaricom.

The Audit report exposed a number of weaknesses not expected in a blue-chip like Safaricom. For instance single sourcing, corrupt ad-hoc committees, conflict of interest and a number of shell companies that were( Still are) being used to siphon billions from the Telco.

During his stint as Safaricom CEO, Michael Joseph’s word became the Law and the curse of single-sourcing, and Mr. 10% adopted the corporate graft. To say the least, Bob Collymore inherited a rotten system, but his big blunder was to keep using the corrupt system without cracking the whip, Making him complicit in all ways.

From KPMG report, the curious case of CELFOCUS stands out like a sore thumb, a debacle going back a decade to 2007 during the reign of his majesty Micheal Joseph. I urge you to get the KPMG Report and see how the mother of all corruption, cronyism, and Impunity played out in this CELFOCUS Saga. The Kenya insights team will try to serialize the report further.

After the KPMG Report Leakage, Safaricom CFO Tombleson was Recalled by Vodafone in connection with the One Campus Fraud showing that the Report shook the Vodafone group.

Kenyan Officials are said to be probing how Michael Joseph bought a Ranch in Laikipia after Blogger Nyakundi alleged in his blog that he bought it using the CELFOCUS deal. Further reports indicate that the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office wants to charge Mr. Bob Collymore for abuse of office.

The Situation is so bad that the Serious Fraud Office has demanded that Bob Collymore’s tenure comes to an end without extension or renewal of his contract. They don’t want to charge him while he is the CEO of Safaricom because that may hurt the company, in an unimaginable way.

Elsewhere, Suspect Corporate Newspapers and Blogs have already been bankrolled to report that Mr. Michael Joseph willingly quit Vodafone to ” Concentrate on other things ” Very suspect, and not expected from a Mr. 10% who always smells the Monies.

The Safaricom KPMG Report will haunt many, but the question is, how many will dodge the KPMG Report Bullet?

We keep guessing …

Forbes Magazine, estimated the net-worth of Vimal Shah’s father, Bhimji Depar Shah, then aged 82, together with Vimal Shah, then aged 55, and Vimal’s younger brother Tarun Shah, at US$700 million, making them the 33rd wealthiest individual or group in Africa in 2014. Vimal was then at the top of his game being one of the richest Kenyans with a positive image of the company. With time trouble came knocking.

Before the advent of social media, many people with questionable characters used to do PR all over media making Kenyans believe that they were angels.

But the advent of social media has debunked all this, holding corporates responsible for their ills since the Kenyan media can’t expose some of these ills because some of these corporates are their clients.

For instance the Safaricom Cheza games Saga that the Kenya Insights Team wrote about a few months ago trended on social media with Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore refunding Billions. What shocked many kenyans was the silence from the media poseurs who decided to give the Multibillion Saga a deaf ear yet the role of media is to educate Kenyans and report on all these matters of public interest.

Social Media is a force the reckon with and what we are witnessing is ” Digital Disrupt ” that is killing the old media like a cancerous infection.

The truth is that as media hides or struggles to protect their favorites, social media and vocal blogs are taking charge, controlling the narrative and replacing the old media. It has now become a norm for the media to break stories blogger broke many years ago.

A Classic Study case of the Social Media Impact can be traced to Bidco Africa, the edible oils industry whose embattled CEO Vimal Shah has been forced to resign due to many scandals and negative social media publicity that has hurt the Companie’s bottom line.

Bidco Oil Refineries chief executive officer Vimal Shah is a man under siege and has always been accused of economic sabotage as well as human rights abuse. To show how bad things were in his tenure as CEO, he once had to pull out of a prestigious London Investment Conference after one of the delegates whispered to him that protestors were planning to demonstrate against him over his poor human rights record.

Sources say he took the first flight back to Nairobi to avoid being embarrassed. The demos went on as planned despite his absence with demonstrators carrying placards as they shouted “down with Vimal Shah” and “Stop Bidco” as conference participants arrived at Claridge’s, the 5-star London hotel where the conference took place.

This prompted the conference’s organizers to drop his name from the list of the main speakers. One of his senior staff who had accompanied him was at pains to explain his absence at the conference.

Vimal is a well-known shrewd businessman who has been involved in a number of scams. Another demo was also held in Nairobi along City Hall Way. Motorists were blocked as demonstrators bayed for the tycoon’s blood. One placard read, Vimal, a Wife Snatcher.

Vimal is accused of being a slave driver. His firms underpay poor farmers, exploit those he has employed and suppliers and allegedly evades taxes running into billions of shillings.

KRA has been demanding Sh702 million tax. The taxes have accumulated to Sh1.3 billion with at one time KRA threatening to attach bank accounts and properties. This was also subject to social media campaigns, and the office of the Kenyan Ombudsman once wrote a Letter to KRA Demanding an explanation from Njirahini on why Bidco had not paid arrears.

Poor working conditions are also the order of the day at Bidco. The workplace is full of danger. Bidco staff have been suffering for years over poor working conditions and sick pay as well as the firm’s poor safety record. Staff says employees are fired at will and without following laid down procedures, and those who demand better pay or good working conditions are intimidated and threatened with summary dismissal. A worker once died in a Bidco store and court ordered Vimal to pay the Vimal one million Shillings leading to many questions from Kenyans who wondered how human life could be that cheap.

Bidco workers describe Vimal as a heartless person. Money to National Hospital Insurance Fund and National Social Security Fund is not remitted as prescribed; it is claimed. To complicate matters, workers are paid on a contract basis.

The hygiene standards of Bidco products are being questioned as to whether they meet the standards required. Workers who have had accidents at their workplace are not compensated.

A woman working at the boilers is said to have received severe burns, but the family’s efforts to get compensated has hit a snag. At one time, Shah is said to have chased her parents from his office calling them stupid poor Africans.

He is accused of using abuses on Africans. Due to his low opinion to Africans, Bidco has budgeted and allocated less to social responsibilities. As a result, there is now a move to boycott the company’s products. Staff members do not enjoy education scholarships for their children.

The clinic at the factory is poorly manned and is only for first aid. Christians are not allowed to pray and fellowship during lunch times as it happens in other places as this is banned. If found violating the rule, one is summarily dismissed.

Sexual harassment by Indian managers is the order of the day. To compound and complicate matters, even those fully employed are not covered by insurance. To Vimal, he is close to the powers that be, and nobody can dare stop his operations and oppressions.

United Nations were probing all these Scandals as Bidco risks being kicked out of the United Nations Global Compact. Parliament is also probing Bidco over human rights abuses, Grabbing of land in Uganda and tax evasion now estimated to be 7 Billion Shillings.

In a bid to save the family empire from falling, a decision was made by the family to have the businessman step aside as his tainted reputation blew huge curses to the BIDCO dynasty. Thiagarajan Ramamurthy takes over from Vimal Shah as Bidco Africa CEO.

 

Kenya has been worse hit by cyber crime attacks in the recent time, regionally, the country is ranked top putting financial institutions at a high risk. Being a new phenomenon and companies adapting to new technological changes, massive security loopholes has given the sophisticated internet criminals to phish and lead into severe losses. The worst part is the judicial system in the country is yet to adopt to new changes entirely, and lack of comprehensive investigations has seen a less than 3% prosecutions of cyber crimes. In short, they’re easily getting away with it.

Recently, a major crackdown whether real or staged was laid and a ring of these criminals involved in the desktops robbery arrested over KRA hacking and making away with Sh4B in which the case is still ongoing. This isn’t an isolated incident, according to a report by Serianu’s Cybersecurity Report 2016, African countries lost at least $2 billion in cyber attacks in 2016 with Kenya leading in East Africa losing $175M.

Being a global problem like terrorism, the international community is jumping in to help contain the situation. Sources intimate to Cyber Crimes revealed to Kenya Insights about a recent visit to the country by FBI’s Deputy Director Andrew G. McCabe doing a follow up and stamping the US government support on the crisis by offering technical training and facilitation to Kenya’s cyber crime unit on dealing with the mess.

In recent years, the technology landscape in Kenya has seen tremendous growth. From strategic options to the creation of new opportunities for innovation in products and services, technology is now incorporated in many if not all aspects of business. Mobile and Internet usage has also seen a continued increase, especially within the local SMEs.

However, as more businesses digitize their business processes and move to the internet, the potential attack vectors for these organizations expand. The past year was a particularly tough period for local agencies on cyber security. The number of threats and data breaches increased with clear evidence that homegrown cyber criminals are becoming more skilled and targeted.

The estimated cost of cyber-crime in Kenya has soared to $175 million. This cost continues to rise as many organizations automate their processes. This is particularly the case for banking and other financial services sectors where the introduction of mobile and e-services has introduced new weaknesses that have allowed the loss of money through these channels.

Mobile money in Kenya has experienced numerous attacks through social engineering, use of malware and account personifications. As one of the alternative channels for most banks, hackers are now exploiting the weak security controls around the mobile money platform to steal millions.

Malware targeting critical mobile and internet banking infrastructure are on the rise. The results of Serianu’s internal traffic analysis revealed that there are numerous forms of malware on internal systems which include: Trojans such as Dridex and Zeus malware. Attackers are using this malware to compromise and access sensitive information on the network. Unfortunately, statistics remain vague as organizations are reluctant to reveal the extent to which they have been targeted by attackers.

The insider threat is still the largest contributor to direct losses in cybercrime in Kenya. Insider threats refer to fraud involving information or employee abuse of IT systems and information, in the case of KRA it is suspected that an employee granted access into their system for manipulation by the gang from inside.

E-commerce platforms hit with more online scams, ATM card skimming, and Identity Theft as integrations with Electronic Payments and financial institutions increase. At the same time, electronic banking and cashless initiatives have been introduced into the country. This has resulted in unintended consequences ranging from online scams, ATM card skimming, and identity theft.

Increase in IoT threats – due to their insecure implementation and configuration, these Internet-connected embedded devices, including CCTVs and nanny cams, Smart TVs, DVRs, Smart routers, and printers, are routinely hacked and used as weapons in cyber-attacks. Technical training of employees is insufficient. The increase in the number of homegrown cyber criminals in Kenya is not because attackers are more talented, it’s because they are more creative, patient, single-minded and they explore limitless pathways. Kenyan organizations are not leveraging their own creative, curious analysts. Technical teams are not empowered with tools.

Low levels of security awareness. Most organizations don’t budget for advocacy and training programs for their staff. This was been proven by the numerous breaches seen in the period under review alone attributed to compromised employees. Most training is conducted after a security incident has occurred as opposed to prior.

Security professionals are struggling to demonstrate business value to senior management because they are providing very technical operational metrics whereas business managers are looking for more business-oriented metrics. Lack of practical regulatory guidance from industry regulators and government leads to poorly implemented and unenforceable security controls since they are not local focused and instead are copied and pasted regulations. Only 3% of reported cyber-crimes are successfully prosecuted. Inadequate training and awareness amongst the law enforcement and judiciary fraternity make prosecution of these cases impossible.

According to the Kenya Cyber Security Report, the challenges faced by the country and in essence African countries present significant business opportunities for entrepreneurs, researchers and vendors. To stay ahead of the threat curve, there’s a need to continually invest in research, build local cyber threat management infrastructure and enhance our ability to anticipate, detect, respond and contain information security threats. In the current state, we are unable to build these capabilities.

Kenyan entrepreneurs need to step up, work together to develop and provide information security services that address these challenges. Kenyan entrepreneurs and researchers should leverage their local presence and understanding of the environment to provide a clear indication of the security problems on the ground. This local presence combined with partnerships with global players will provide globally tested solutions and approaches to address identity security loopholes.

Kenyans have been treated to endless bickering by the President and the Mombasa governor over unclear issues for the past months. Many theories have come up with eyes pointing at the political and personal rivalry between the two kings in their perspectives.

The public onslaught of the two leaders has become habitual. The fighting has seen Joho a fierce critic of the President faced with endless legal implications and scrutiny on his businesses. When it all started, Joho’s family owned freight companies that employ close to a thousand people were shut down by KRA in a move quickly read as intimidation and hands of the mighty.

It has emerged that the indignation of the two goes back to the SGR project. Joho was against the Vision 2030 plans to shift the building of a dry port in Voi to Naivasha in the Rift Valley an idea that President Uhuru was for. The governor is quoted saying, “The President wants to make locals poorer as the relocation of the port will deny local youths jobs. I have no apologies over my stand. Those who want to burst can burst.” Mombasa port employs thousands of the young people.

Named as Phase 2A, the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway line to the Geothermal town of Naivasha was launched by President Uhuru on September 2015. This new line will be undertaken by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) at a cost of Ksh.105B

The real gist of the rivalry was over control of resources. Joho and other freight companies felt threatened that the dry port in Naivasha would pass through them out of business. Kenyatta, on the other hand, is allegedly having a personal interest in having the port constructed in the geothermal power nerve of Naivasha. According to intelligence by the late Jacob Juma who never made mistakes in his words, the Kenyatta family had acquired the 22,000 acres of the expansive land from Delamere where the port is to be built. This would give them a chance to expand their extended empire.

These exact sentiments were echoed by Joho’s rival, Senator Omar who is quoted saying “I personally know the troubles between the President and Joho. That is why I have been silent all this time. It was not a political fallout, it was a business fallout from the free port, the National Youth Service and a few other issues that were not honored,” on KTN News on Thursday, April 6.

Inland ports are collection points for the main port. The main exports from the Naivasha area are horticulture, floriculture and of course soda ash. Fruits, vegetables significant and flowers are exported by air mainly due to their delicacy so that a container yard won’t help much. Magadi gap already has a railway line connected directly to the Mombasa port and they use that line to date. In a nutshell, many have argued that building an inland port in Naivasha is futile, leave alone the environmental impact it’s gonna have on flamingos and wildlife.

A good number have also proposed that the port would’ve been appropriately situated in Malaba. Arguing that with the costly SGR in place, an inland port in Malaba will reduce road traffic between malaba and Naivasha for trucks destined in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC or South Sudan. Secondly, road transit has been a major loophole in tax evasion on imports. With inland ports being set up at border points, that will play a major role in sealing this loophole which will increase revenue collection.

 

Healthcare in Kenya seem to be a trouble magnet, coming from the Sh.5.3B MoH theft to doctors striking, the list of problems continues to pile. Kenya Insights has learned of a disastrous scandal that is only a matter of time before the bubble bursts. In 2015, the President launched a program that would see medical equipment leased to the public hospitals across the country. Even though the move was opposed by the governors citing procurement flaws.

The machines were leased to county governments by the national government under Managed Equipment Service (MES) Programme in a 38B health-care plan.
The governors also said they preferred the equipment be bought rather than leasing as it would cut costs by a quarter. Under the program, at least two hospitals in each of the 47 counties would receive the machines.

Two Level 5 and Level 4 hospitals in each of the 47 counties will be equipped with theatre equipment, Theatre support services, Kidney Dialysis Equipment, ICU equipment and X-ray equipment.
Also, four National Referral Hospitals, Kenyatta, Moi Teaching, National Spinal Injury Hospital and Mathari would also benefit from the project.

This means the supplier installs, operates, maintains and replaces the machine if necessary. The companies would also pay the operators.
The Government had already signed contracts with five multinational corporations for the supply, installation, operation and maintenance of the equipment.

Mindray Bio-medical of China would supply the theatre equipment, Esteem of India the devices equipment and consumables for theatres, Belico SRL of Italy the dialysis machines, Philips of The Netherlands the Intensive Care Units, and General Electric of the US the radiology machines. The transformation of the healthcare sector through inter-hospital telemedicine within radiology departments – a project that has been implemented in Kenya by GE Healthcare and Seven Seas Technologies Group.

Seven Seas is owned by Mike Macharia one of the few billionaires in Kenya who made their fortunes under a short time. He’s a brother to Transport CS James Macharia a post he took after being in the health docket. Insiders tell Kenya Insights he has a significant role in influencing supply tender to his brother. The CS is not a stranger to corruption scandals as he’s in the middle of Afya House scam over influencing tenders.

These equipment are leased for ten years even though it would make economic sense if they were bought once off as some governors argued. However, that’s not the main issue, a good number of the equipment are lying idle in the hospitals either because of lack of sufficient electricity supply as in the case of cancer machines which is now under Auditor General scrutiny or lack of qualified personnel. Here we have modern technology equipment supplied to hospitals without any intensive training to the staff on the operation. They’re just there for the face value after all, whether functional or not, the supplier is guaranteed of his share.

The government has supplied this equipment without specialists, so you have a cancer machine somewhere in Turkana without an oncologist most of whom are based in Nairobi. Ideally, hiring more professionals would be part of the program of this is to get any effective. Otherwise, Kenya is spending billions on projects that are not helpful. Patients still stream to referral hospitals for tests that can be done at County middle-level hospitals. A talk with many doctors across the country reveals the ugly truth that these equipment are accumulating dust at the expense of the taxpayer. When will we ever have sustainable health policies?

 

Ahmednasir in an 8-page statement to the police detailed a grand plot hatched by the director of criminal investigations Muhoro to eliminate him. The lawyer made public his death threats after being tipped by an informant who was in the strategic meeting of assassinating him.

In the statement, Grandmullah elaborates how Muhoro constituted a team of 5 lethal hit squad with a Mr. Kamu mentioned as one to take him out. The assassination was planned to happen last month however after tracking his phone; the killers discovered that he was out of the country. He insists, being out of the country saved his life.

Ahmednasir attributes his death threats and killing scheme by Muhoro over the Sh.8B valued Tatu City. There have been wrangles within the real estate project where the majority shareholder Stephen Jennings has accused co-shareholders who owns minority states, Former CBK Governor Nahashon Nyagah and BIDCO’s Vimal Shah of conspiring to transfer shares fraudulently and in line steal the Tatu City project from him. Ahmednasir represents Tatu City in the endless court cases.

Ahmednasir exposed Muhoro as being party to the fraud scheme in what perhaps rubbed the DCI boss the wrong way. According to the lawyer, Muhoro was bribed with Sh.50M and promised 300 acres of Tatu City land should be successfully executed frustrations of investigations, and eventually Nyagah and company get away with the land theft. Ahmednasir accuses the DCI boss of having an insatiable appetite for land in his statement, “Muhoro has a death squad that has killed many innocent Kenyans over land and will keep killing more over land. Muhoro’s greed for land is limitless and will go to any length to get it.”

Explaining Muhoro’s role in the Tatu City land theft, the lawyer says his pivotal role was to interfere with proper investigations with the end game of jacking the project from Jennings the major shareholder and investor in the game-changing real estate project. Muhoro he says had a role in ensuring no criminal prosecution is meted out on the land fraudsters and giving them police protection. He says Muhoro also has a role in intimidating the real Tatu City owners through malicious investigations and open threats.

Ahmed insists that Muhoro in intimidating move began an investigation into his pupilage a case that was lost on a court’s injunction. It is after this that the lawyer says things went for the worst. “Muhoro having lost the case and further having lost the land that he was given and promised by the fraudsters in the Tatu City, told his five-member hit squad that I was an obstacle that I must be removed on his part to realise the land that he was given by the fraudsters.” Ahmednasir claim the problem on land under Muhoro is bigger, “Muhoro has a death squad in CID. He has killed many innocent Kenyans over land and will continue killing more. Many of the unexplained killings under his tenure were done at express instructions of Muhoro. He enjoys impunity and kills when his interest is at stake.”

“On April 3, a senior officer in the Directorate of Criminal Investigations called me and asked that I meet him very urgently. I met him, and what he told me shocked and alarmed me, he further informed me that one of the officers is called a Mr. Kamau; that these five officers are well known within the DCI and are trusted by Muhoro to carry out killings on his behalf.” Ahmednasir alleged in the statement seen by Kenya Insights.

Coincidentally, blogger Cyprian Nyakundi who’s also entangled in the Tatu City troubles and has a defamation case alongside Ahmednasir and Stephen Jennings filed by Nyagah and Vimal, received death threats in what looks like a coordinated effort. Nyakundi has been vocal in highlighting the Tatu City squabbles online a case that has put him in hot waters.

During his last arrest of the many, while being held at Central Police, Nyakundi was given a surprise visit at around 2 am which is unusual by unidentified men he suspects to be CIDs. It is unclear how they were given permission to access him at the cells during such times. Nyakundi was bundled into a solitary space and issued with threats, “they warned me against speaking ever again on BIDCO, Vimal and Tatu City and promised deer consequences should I despise the warnings and continue writing about the same subjects. ” The blogger told Kenya Insights.

The blogger has in the past complained of being trailed by unknown persons during the peak of Tatu City wrangles. Death plot on Ahmed coincides with Nyakundi’s threats. Though I’m bloggers case, it is unclear who sent the men to issue the threats, but the pattern is not a rocket science to see the common factor.

The ugly incident that happened in Migori on Monday when the Suna MP Junet Mohammed was launching his re-election bid, has sparked several conspiracies as to the real motives behind the shooting that left the Mombasa’s governor driver with a gun wound to his leg.

The shooting was triggered by the area’s governor Obado guards when he stormed the venue with a group of countless goons to disrupt the rally which was attended by amongst them his arch rival Ochilo Ayako. It is believed that the event would be used to endorse Ayacko and this is what irked the governor according to theorists.

The party ODM and CID have launched investigation into the incident that left many injured. Joho has described the incident as an assassination attempt on his life claiming the bullet that fell on his bodyguard was meant for him. His car was also hit with bullet to where he normally sits.

The video captures the terrifying moments.

 

One of the most dangerous gangs in the country operates in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area. The gang, commonly known as Super Power, is almost entirely made up of young boys. Together with Gaza of Kayole and 40 Brothers based in East-lands, the Police have ranked them the top three most dangerous criminal gangs in the country in 2016.Over the years, the Super Power has committed numerous criminal activities ranging from murder, mugging, pickpocketing, and violent robbery – often stabbing their victims.

Its members roam the busy streets of Eastleigh. They mainly operate at night, although they have been known to “work” during the day sometimes.Two months ago, Abdi Aimoi Mohamed came to Nairobi to further his education but met his death in the hands of Super Power gang soon after his arrival. Aimoi was stabbed severally, turning him into a statistic among the rising number of the gang’s victims.The gang often targets mobile phones, cash, and jewelry, and spares those who yield to their demands. Sometimes, how-ever, “they just stab their victims even after they get want they want… we don’t understand why,” said a police officer who declined to be named because he is not al-lowed to speak for the Police.

Family factor

Starting a few years ago, most members of the gang are said to be young children; many deported from US, UK, and other Western countries for crimes committed there. Because they wanted to continue the kind of lifestyles they had been used to abroad, many come together to form the gang to get the cash they needed. This is made worse by the fact that rehabilitation programs for misdemeanor crimes are almost absent in Kenya, which made it easy for the youth to form and join the gang.Not all of the “boys” are deported, how-ever; some of its members are those sent back by their parents to participate in the famous dhaqan celis – rehabilitation communes meant to make them reconnect with their culture. Whenever they are sent back, their passports are often confiscated to ensure they don’t travel back, thereby leaving them prone to joining gangs. The irony is that every time they are arrested for the crimes they commit, it is their parents who come to their rescue by bailing them out of jail or paying their fines. “None of them has ever faced jail time.

These children have money because their parents are wealthy. Once you arrest them, they are quickly bailed out,” a resident confided. It also explains why they feel invincible – the system cannot hold them. Super Power is said to have been initially backed by businessmen in Eastleigh, for protection from and intimidation of rival merchants, and to eliminate competition. These soon dissociated themselves with the outfit when the gang morphed into a quasi-terrorist group. With increasing terror attacks, and as security agencies sought to establish rumored (financial) links between businessmen and terrorists, communication was cut off between the facilitators and the gang, leaving them to their own devices. Broke and desperate, members organized themselves into the gang we know today. In the course of my inquiries, I was directed to a businessman in Eastleigh who, however, declined to meet with me when he learned what I wanted. In my search to meet and speak with members of the gang, I met Mohamed, who asked to be identified only by his first name. He is in his early 20s, currently a taxi driver.

Mohamed says he is now “reformed”; he left the gang a year ago. He agrees to take me to his former “operation centre” and introduce me to his former mates. At 8 p.m., at the furthest end of the one of the streets in Eastleigh, we knocked on a metallic door. A boy, who appeared to be in his late teen years, opened the door. He recognized Mohamed, and he ushered us in. Inside, we met four other teens, including girls, inhaling from a shisha pot. After a long pause, during which they must have judged that we meant no harm, they welcomed Mohamed and me to join them. However, things almost went violent after that.

Hushed muttering between Mohamed and one of the boys, who I later learned was their leader, turned into a heated exchange and very nearly degenerated to blows when it became apparent that I was a journalist. But after a passionate stating of his case and assurances that I only sought information, they all relaxed. Jamal, the leader, then gave me a tour of the house, which consisted of a single bed, several mattresses, littered with used cigarette butt and wilting leaves of khat. Beneath the beds were two pangas and several knives. “This is what we use,” Jamal said simply. He is 23, Jamal said. He has a scar on his chin. He hails from southern Somalia, and knows only a few Swahili word. He said he is in Nairobi waiting to go to Europe. He will cross through the Mediterranean Sea. “This is just a temporary way of earning a living as I wait to travel,” he said nonchalantly of his “job” as if he were describing a game of cards.

He commands twelve “soldiers”, two of them female. Often, they operate at night and sleep during the day. I asked why they are not working tonight and he says, “not all of us go”. Only half, or a slightly less number, will go to the streets to look for “something” at a time. “Those who went out will be with us early morning to bring what they have “managed to get” to be shared by all members. Phones are usually stored somewhere before they are “offloaded”, while cash and other valuables, like watches, are distributed among members. Some money is set aside to purchase khat and shisha, which are used by everyone in the group.

I asked Jamal to let me spend the night with them; he agreed. They have installed Wi-Fi and, during my stay, everyone, including me, was either on the phone or by the pot of shisha. At one point, when the smoke became too much for me, I asked and was granted permission to step out for fresh air. I have never been more relieved to be outside in the middle of the night. By six in the morning, no one had slept.

At 6.25 there was a knock on the door. Everyone but me recognized the entrant and immediately went back to what they were doing. An hour later, another knock and eight tired-looking boys joined us. They set about displaying their loot – phones, and cash. Sharing was done simply and without questions. How do they manage with the police on patrol all over? Jamal said the police are their “friends”, and that when they are cooperative with the law enforcers, they let them carry on their business without trouble.

“There is one police officer,” I started after a pause, “his name is Ahmed Rashid. He is often praised for dealing ruthlessly with the gang. How do you evade him?” “He is more dangerous and expensive than the rest,” Jamal says. “He shoots at the slightest provocation or if you defy his orders. If he arrests you, your family will have to part with a lot of money to get you out.” Jamal says Ahmed has physically assaulted him countless times. “He is ruthless. Sometimes he will arrest anyone he feels looks like a Super Power member even if they are not. He only releases someone when he gets paid.” According to Eastleigh residents, Super Power allegedly enjoys police protection.

This was evident when over 1.7 kilos of gold were stolen last year from a shopping mall in Eastleigh. Flying Squad detectives established that among the nine people involved in the robbery were police officers. When undertaking “high profile” robberies, Jamal said, the gang always alerts the police, who help them get the job done for a cut. High profile jobs include robbing malls and shops. The number of such robberies has been growing in the past year. Jamal says there is no formal agreement between the gang and the security forces. Sometimes they seem to be “cooperative” but can suddenly turn and arrest you. Cases of disappearances or killings are not unusual. At around 7:30 p.m. on July 12, pictures of what appeared to be minors lying on the ground began doing the rounds on social media.

The duo was alleged to be member of Super Power gang. Witness said the two were trailed by police and were, at some point, challenged to stop. They began running instead prompting the officers to shoot them. One died instantly and the other an hour later. It is alleged that the officers stood by the injured teen and watched him bleed to death. In most instances, parents’ claim they did not know that their children were engaged in criminal activity and that they f and such information from the police at a time when the child is either in a cell/jail or dead. Police often display “evidence” like phones and knife to show prove the guilt of the apprehended/dead teen. One woman narrated to me of how she woke up day to discover that her son had been killed for attempted robbery.

In killing I mentioned at the beginning of this story, Abdirahman Suheib was among those suspected of murdering Aimoi. Abdirahman’s family learned through social media that he had been arrested. He later died in unclear circumstances. His cousin, Ahmed, said Abdirahman spoke to his parents on the phone to inform them that four of his co-suspected had been released, and pleaded with them to pay to have him released. When he called the next day, he complained of high fever, fatigue, and loss of muscle control, symptoms the family associated with poising. His parents went to see him at once but were told their son’s body was in the mortuary. Devoted Muslims, his parents rejected a post-mortem analysis to determine the cause of his death. Now it will never be known.

This story originally appeared on Nairobi Law Monthly Magazine 

 

Just as we had published in our previous article on the alleged KRA hacking that supposedly led to the loss of 4B, more truths and lies continue to unravel with latest coming from the horse’s mouth. Alex Mutuku has broken the silence by trying to bring sanity to the buzzing media coverage. Through his brother who is currently running his Facebook account, the suspected hacker revealed a perfect plan hatched by unnamed influential figures that framed him in the hacking fiasco.

The adolescent Kenyan media already prosecuted and convicted the young man in public court by using his lavish Facebook posts as a justification for his involvement in hacking. We have a media lazy to do research that’s why we have scammers as Simple Homes using same media to fleece Kenyans. A media that has created illusory billionaires, who’ll spot you drinking expensive wine and driving a used Range Rover and report you like a billionaire without questioning whether it’s yours or borrowed.

In a rejoinder, Mutuku downplays this saying the posts don’t reflect his real net worth. He starts off be reflecting on the suicide attempt he made after being dumped by his girlfriend. “My life was darkest in 2015, and after that, I decided nothing will ever take me back to that dark time. Not anyone. Not even this and indeed the media twisting facts. Hence my phrase ‘Nothing can stop me; I’m all the way up…’ I’m sure most of you are familiar with the lyrics. I’m always smiling. Even now, I have learned to love myself. And trust me, I’ve never loved myself more than I do now.” He said.

He continues, “now, since 2015 I’ve never taken time off. I struggled with a lot of things but eventually overcame all. So, 2017 is here and what do I do? I decided one of my new year’s resolution is a trip to East and Southern Africa and one international trip. I buy my international ticket and embark on the East African trip. From city to city. On bus. No flying- too expensive – and I document everything on my FB timeline. By the time, I get to Tz, I’ve spent 73k, already broke and the deadline to register as a voter is quickly approaching. I decided to come back. Now, it has all been twisted as ‘living large.’ Wow. But I understand people have to make a living- in this case selling more copies.”

He goes ahead to make a clarification and reveal how he was possibly baited and framed by the KRA looting racket. “By March I have ticked two resolutions for this year. I get back; I’m arrested. Why? KRA has lost 4B. Not a million but billion. When they told me that, I laughed. I laugh even now. I’m not stupid. Clearly, I’m the patsy. These large Cajun as at KRA looted the cash and then in a smoke-filled room, smoking their Cuban – forgive my imagination, it probably was an office- decided this.” He slams at the players behind his arrest. Sincerely, if you had 4B out of the blues I’m sure Tanzania won’t be on the first to do list but for me, a cruise in private yacht, rent out an entire island somewhere in Seychelles and amount spent wouldn’t be felt, boss I have 4B to spend. Pesa Otas.

He further preempts how he was nailed, mimicking “Oh, this Alex boy just went on a trip and stupidly plastered it all over FB. What’s more, he has a similar case. Perfect! Go get him.” “Anyone with half a brain can figure that out. Four billion doesn’t just disappear like that without anyone noticing- for years. Even slowly.” He stamps. At this point, it’s clear he was framed, but he doesn’t make it clear why of all the people he was picked. The possible reason behind this is perhaps at one point he might have had engagement with either of the players or his history with cyber antics gave a leeway to perfectly frame him.

Alex in his confession insists he doesn’t have the quoted 4B. ” I DO NOT have 4B or any part of 4B. In fact, my life’s savings are not even remotely close to one billion, let alone four!” He reiterates. As to whether he had a working relationship with anyone at KRA who could have facilitated the laptop to be connected to vital servers to siphon the cash, he vehemently denies, “I have NEVER worked at KRA nor do I know anyone who works there. If I did, then I do not believe I’d have queued all those hours renewing my license or transferring my bike ownership. Those queues are just life draining.”

“I believe this is a test and just like every storm, it will pass, and I will emerge victoriously. The truth never stays hidden. All will be revealed in due time. God’s time is the best. For now, I’ll keep smiling and praying.” He says.

His bail ruling is scheduled for Monday, 28th and he stands high chances being granted. As usual, you can bet the lazy investigating officers don’t have tangible evidence. Alex suspects he would be slapped with a hefty cash bail beyond his ability and now asking for good wishers to help him raise the bail. While this could be a genuine plea, it can as well be a hoodwink engineered message to paint a poor man picture. It is only the law that can fully exonerate him, unfortunately.

Lastly, he doesn’t sign off without a word, “here is my advice. Let no one steal your joy. Live your life to the fullest as I do. I learned the hard way that life is a precious gift from God and every moment should be treasured. That’s why I will never stop smiling. No matter what. Peace.” He concludes.