A Tanzanian fugitive socialite is believed to be hiding in Nairobi. Rachel Temu is wanted by the police in Dar es Salaam following a series of crimes that has been hanging over her head wuth the latest being an attempted kidnapping.
According to reports from the local media, she recently attempted to kidnap a child of a prominent businessman in Dar before it was foiled and later escaped to Nairobi.
She’s a sister to a Tanzanian diplomat where it’s believed to be enjoying the immunity privilege from prosecution.
The vocal lady who on many occasions has been a troll on Instagram has now opened a box of worms revealing her past crimes that were previously reported and somehow vanished given her influence. Grapevine has it that she was previously dating a diplomat from a neighboring African country.
Reported crimes against Rachel.
Feeling safe under the roof in Gigiri, described as mouthy, Rachel continues to troll and defame others on her IG page which is currently private, however from the screenshots seen, she’s ungovernable.
Big question in this case is whether diplomatic immunity should be extended to relatives and fugitives?
Savanna Cement limited has failed to block Kenya Commercial Bank from appointing an administrator to manage the company over a debt.
Justice Wilfrida Okwany dismissed the application by the cement maker saying the company failed to prove that the bank will not be able to compensate it in damages should its case be successful.
Justice Okwany further noted that the amount due and owing from Savannah Cement is quite substantial. Absa bank is also seeking millions from the cement maker and had opposed KCB’s takeover.
“In this regard, I find that KCB and Absa Bank are parties on the receiving end as they are likely to suffer prejudice and irreparable loss if the orders sought herein are granted,” noted the Judge.
Savanna Cement ltd wanted the court to block KCB’s plan to sell its property, appointing an administrator or liquidator, pending the determination of its case.
The firm’s director Benson Ndeta told the court that the company borrowed several facilities by the two banks separately and the company has continued to repay its loans and honour its financial obligations as required by the charge instruments and debentures.
Ndeta added that while company was in the process of clearing several loans and had requested to restructure the loan repayment terms.
He accused KCB of increasing the repayable amount in breach the in duplum rule as provided under section 44A of the Banking Act.
“Despite our request to be provided with an account statement for purpose of ascertaining how the balances reached the astronomical levels and redeem the correct outstanding balance, KCB and Absa Bank jointly and severally have proceeded to threaten the company with the Bank’s recovery Remedies,” MD Ndeta told the court.
The MD further claims that the Banks has coerced the cement company to make a proposal of redeeming all the outstanding loans with Sh5 billion which amount the Banks have neither rejected nor counteroffered but have immediately sought to exercise their bank recovery Remedies.
Ndeda said the move will have various adverse effects of breaching the company’s right to redeem the outstanding actual and correct loan balances fairly and justly.
According to the MD, the company has various ongoing contract for the supply of cement to various projects being undertaken by the National Government, which would automatically be terminated without opportunity of renewal, if KCB makes good the threat.
The company said it is in the process of completing the funding of its Clinker Project which will allow it to get all the funds necessary to clear and pay all its outstanding liabilities.
The sizeure, however, would see the company lose funding and jeopardize the exercise of its right to redemption.
KCB Bank through its head of special assets Alfonse Kisilu opposed the company application and confirmed that the bank extended loan facilities to the savannah cement but added that the company defaulted on the interest payment by Sh297,005,320.50 and penalty interest of Sh13,518,511.25.
Kisilu argued that notified the company if the default by giving it 30 days’ notice to regularize the position and the company admitted its default but argued that it was occasioned by cash constraints.
Absa Bank through head of business Faith Mutuku opposed the application adding the company admitted it had defaulted in its obligation to pay the debt.
“Savannah Cement ltd had agreed to be bound by the the terms of the facility agreements which included comprehensive repayment scheduled that indicated when the repayment was due and how much was to be paid,” Mutuku.
Illicit sugar trade from Somalia to neighboring Kenya could be the highest source of revenue for the Al-Shabaab militants, a report published by the Global Initiative Network suggests, noting the amount of taxation imposed on traders smuggling goods to the East African nation.
In what could be a national security threat to Kenya, it has routinely become possible for smugglers to use the Kenya-Somalia border unnoticed, even as the two countries delay opening the border. Kenya had closed down the border as a mitigation measure for increased Al-Shabaab activities in the northeastern part of the country.
According to the report, the proximity of the port of Kismayo to the Kenyan border – as well as the absence of Kenyan import duties – has made it more economical to import many basic staples and other goods through Kismayo and transport them overland into Kenya.
The study dubbed Terror and Taxes; Inside Al-Shabaab’s revenue-collection machines, shows that about one-quarter of the receipts derived from the taxation of vehicles transiting from Kismayo to the town of Dhobley, whose main destination is the Dadaab refugee camp.
For a long time, Kenya has been fighting for the permanent closure of this camp which was first opened in 1992 to accommodate the mass exodus of refugees fleeing the civil war in Somalia, the Dadaab camps now host a population of over 200 000.
The presence of such a dense population concentration close to the border has added additional impetus to cross-border smuggling, the report notes. It is notable that the commercial traffic along the Kismayo–Dhobley route consisted entirely of large vehicles: everyone was a truck.
While minibusses make up over one-third of the vehicle types in the data set as a whole, there were no instances of a minibus transiting from Kismayo to Dhobley. Many of the trucks ostensibly destined for Dhobley in fact proceed across the border into Kenya and the Dadaab complex.
Drivers might be hesitant to declare Dadaab as their destination, out of fear that al-Shabaab officials might view commercial trade with Kenya as collaboration with one of the group’s most implacable enemies.
However, there were a few instances in the data set where the receipt explicitly indicated that the vehicle’s destination was Hagadera, one of the three refugee camps that make up the Dadaab complex, and the closest of the three to the Somali border.
A medium-size truck, for example, will pay US$105 to Jubaland tax authorities for a single journey to Dhobley. Drivers may face further demands for payment at other Jubaland checkpoints, such as Afmadow, Tabda, and Bilis Qooqaani. The burden of this double taxation is ultimately passed down to vulnerable consumer populations in Somalia and Kenya.
However, Jubaland taxation offers a negotiating lever whereby Al-Shabaab might be convinced to reduce its own levies, an idea explored below in the recommendations section.
Sugar, offering Al-Shabaab lifeline
While the traders smuggle quite a number of goods that are not cheaply available in Kenya, sugar seems to be the main product that most traders seek to import to Kenya from the seaport of Kismayo, the regional administrative capital of Jubaland.
High tariffs on sugar imports – designed to protect Kenya’s uncompetitive domestic sugar producers – have resulted in a prolific cross-border illicit trade in sugar from Somalia. Kenyan sugar production perennially fails to meet domestic demand.
In 2021, for instance, it fell more than one-third short of the total domestic consumption of one million metric tonnes. While some of this shortfall is made up by legal imports, the remainder consists of smuggled sugar, largely from Somalia.
Sugar has been described as ‘the most smuggled good’ into Kenya, accounting for almost half of all recorded smuggling instances in a recent year. The sugar that finds its way across the Kenyan border is typically produced in Brazil and imported into Kismayo via Dubai.
Much emphasis has been placed on the lucrative illicit sugar trade in the previous reporting on al-Shabaab financing. In 2011, UN sanctions monitors estimated that al-Shabaab generated between US$400 000 and US$800 000 annually by taxing sugar destined for Kenya.
A similar UN report four years later concluded that the figure was probably ‘substantially higher. Another study, published in 2015, focused on revenues accruing to al-Shabaab from the sugar and charcoal trade, also highlighting the involvement of the Kenyan security forces and high-level political figures.
Both local and international media reporting has focused on the centrality of the sugar trade to al-Shabaab revenue streams. However, the importance of sugar to al-Shabaab has perhaps been overstated. The report established that indeed sugar accounted for a higher proportion of the cargo transported between Kismayo and the Kenyan border than on the other routes.
Precisely, 18.9% of the vehicles traveling on this route were carrying sugar, which was nearly five times the average observed elsewhere in the data set. However, al-Shabaab taxes sugar at the same rate as generic foodstuffs and mixed cargo. In other words, the group itself appears not to treat sugar as a special category within its revenue-generating operation.
The focus placed on sugar in previous analyses of al-Shabaab revenue has perhaps obscured the fact that al-Shabaab has inserted itself into nearly every aspect of economic life in Somalia. Rather than taxing specific commodities, the group extracts a percentage of the value of the entire illicit cross-border trade between Somalia and Kenya.
Any efforts to disrupt their revenue streams must therefore address this illicit trade as a whole. Nevertheless, Kenya’s protectionist policies still play a role in augmenting al-Shabaab revenue.
By raising the domestic price of sugar, Kenyan tariffs increase the demand for illicit sugar from Somalia, thereby increasing the overall volume of cross-border trade taxed by al-Shabaab. In this light, it might be argued that Kenya’s protection of its domestic sugar industry works at cross purposes to the country’s national-security interests.
The government of Kenya is reportedly preparing to open the Kenya-Somalia border, with Defense Minister Aden Duale opining that security measures have been put in place to put Al-Shabaab at bay. The militants are facing hard times in Somalia following a national offensive that was activated about four months ago.
Twitter built secret blacklists to restrict the visibility and reachability of “disfavored” accounts and tweets, independent journalist Bari Weiss said on Friday, posting part two of the Twitter Files, a set of internal company documents.
Titling the post “Twitter’s Secret Blacklists,” Weiss, who runs The Free Press, tweeted: “A new #TwitterFiles investigation reveals that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavored tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics—all in secret, without informing users.”
She said Twitter once had a mission “to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers,” but along the way, barriers were erected.
Twitter, however, denied that it places accounts on blacklist, she said, adding that in 2018, Vijaya Gadde, then head of legal policy and trust, and Kayvon Beykpour, head of product, said: “We do not shadow ban,” “And we certainly don’t shadow ban based on political viewpoints or ideology.”
“What many people call ‘shadow banning,’ Twitter executives and employees call ‘Visibility Filtering’ or ‘VF.’,” the journalist who has written for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, explained, noting that number of “high-level sources” confirmed what the phrase means.
“’Think about visibility filtering as being a way for us to suppress what people see to different levels. It’s a very powerful tool,’ one senior Twitter employee told us,” she stressed, adding: “’VF’ refers to Twitter’s control over user visibility.”
“It used VF to block searches of individual users; to limit the scope of a particular tweet’s discoverability; to block select users’ posts from ever appearing on the ‘trending’ page; and from inclusion in hashtag searches,” she said.
“We control visibility quite a bit. And we control the amplification of your content quite a bit. And normal people do not know how much we do,’ one Twitter engineer told us,” she underlined, pointing out that two other Twitter employees also confirmed it.
She said the group that decided whether to limit the reach of certain users was the Strategic Response Team – Global Escalation Team, or SRT-GET, which generally dealt with around 200 “cases” a day.
Weiss said there was another level beyond that, the ‘Site Integrity Policy, Policy Escalation Support,’ or ‘SIP-PES.’ This “secret group” included Gadde, Global Head of Trust & Safety Yoel Roth, subsequent CEOs Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal, and others.
“This is where the biggest, most politically sensitive decisions got made. ‘Think high follower account, controversial,’ another Twitter employee told us. For these ‘there would be no ticket or anything,’” she wrote.
Underscoring that their investigation still continues as the documents “cannot tell the whole story,” Weiss called on former Twitter employees to reach out to her or her team to reveal more about what happens behind the scene.
The first set of documents detailed Twitter’s decision to restrict an October 2020 New York Post story on the Hunter Biden laptop controversy.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who completed his takeover of Twitter in October, retweeted Weiss’ post, saying: “The Twitter Files, Part Deux!!” along with popcorn emojis.
In another tweet, he said Twitter is working on a software update that will “show your true account status, so you know clearly if you’ve been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal.”
(BBC)- The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Sam Bankman-Fried with “orchestrating a scheme to defraud investors” in the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
The former FTX boss was arrested on Monday.
Mr Bankman-Fried built a “house of cards on a foundation of deception” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said.
He added that the charges for alleged fraud were a warning for other platforms to comply with US laws.
Speaking to BBC News earlier this month, Mr Bankman-Fried sought to distance himself from accusations of illegal activity.
“I didn’t knowingly commit fraud. I don’t think I committed fraud. I didn’t want any of this to happen. I was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was,” he told BBC News cyber reporter Joe Tidy.
Mr Bankman-Fried also denied allegations he must have been aware FTX’s affiliated trading company, Alameda Research, was using FTX customer funds.
Billions invested
Since 2019, Bahamas-based FTX had raised more than $1.8bn (£1.46bn) from equity investors, the SEC said, including approximately $1.1 billion from about 90 US-based investors.
It is alleged that while Mr Bankman-Fried promoted FTX as a “safe, responsible crypto asset trading platform”, in reality he “orchestrated a years-long fraud” to conceal from FTX’s investors the diversion of FTX customers’ funds to Alameda Research LLC, his privately-held crypto hedge fund.
The SEC also alleges he concealed FTX’s exposure to Alameda’s significant holdings of overvalued FTX-affiliated tokens.
Mr Bankman-Fried is also accused of “co-mingling” FTX customers’ funds at Alameda to make “undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations”.
In what has turned out to be one of his last interviews before arrest, Mr Bankman-Fried seemed extremely confident – telling me he would not be arrested and was innocent of any criminal wrongdoing.
The 30-year-old turned up in his trademark shorts and scruffy T-shirt, seeming surprisingly calm.
But he did admit he was not getting much sleep since his empire collapsed and he became crypto public enemy number one.
Mr Bankman-Fried spoke to us not in his home but in an apartment still owned by FTX, in the luxury Albany complex about 30 minutes from Bahamian capital Nassau.
Before we started recording, we were told not to take any shots of the multimillion pound yachts or manicured gardens in the marina.
We were also warned not to film his apartment building, which he has had to vacate for “safety reasons”.
Once we began the interview Mr Bankman-Fried spoke for 35 minutes with no topic or question ruled out.
As in other recent interviews, he admitted to mismanaging his FTX empire but tried to distance himself from any criminal wrongdoing.
He also said he did not think he would be arrested and, off camera, heavily hinted details would soon emerge to make the public more believing of his version of events.
“FTX operated behind a veneer of legitimacy Mr. Bankman-Fried created,” said Gurbir S Grewal, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
“But as we allege in our complaint, that veneer wasn’t just thin, it was fraudulent.”
He added that FTX’s collapse highlighted the risk unregistered crypto asset trading platforms can pose to consumers and investors.
The SEC charged Mr Bankman-Fried with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also announced charges against Mr Bankman-Fried in parallel actions.
Located on the South border of the Nairobi National Park, Ololo Lodge is one the few exclusive places frequented by the wealthy and with a bigger customer base of foreign tourists.
The lodge has in the past days been trending on social media for the wrong reasons following claims by alleged visitors that it’s discriminatory with accusations against the owners of being racist.
The lodge is owned by an Australian family.
According to a visitor to the hotel, the experience was not a pleasant one rather was met with open discrimination and described her experience as racial.
In a viral tweet, Ms. Hibo Yussuf who’s a founder and of HH & Associates Advocates narrates her experience with the hotel saying, “I have traveled in Kenya almost in all national parks and stayed in different hotels! This one was different, different treatment, racist undertones and pure discrimination!” She opens up a thread about her ordeal.
Which I thought at first was beautiful, by the set up was disturbing, the comments after each share by Fred was annoying! He made him share this stories infront of a bunch of white people who laughed at how big Maasai wedding are and how Fred reacted to malls and elevators!
We had another black American sister there who was sitting alone at her dining table! My husband and I were so uncomfortable! Mr Chapman kept on leading Fred to speak, Fred says he wants to marry more women but not Europeans! Chapman says” year marry Africans they are cheap”
She goes further to say that she had raised issues with the management of which she was threatened with a defamation lawsuit in the event she highlighted her concerns about the lodge on social media:
It’s a horrible experience, I will say it here, please avoid this place if you are a black person! I can’t believe I am saying this in Africa where we are home but the owner of this place is a terrible human being! Stay away from @OloloLodgepic.twitter.com/KQ0NACdknO
A Nairobi Court has issued warrant for the arrest of senior officials of the country’s largest telcos Safaricom including chief executive officer Peter Ndegwa over the failure to pay a litigant more than Sh7 million.
Milimani Commercial Senior Principal Magistrate H. Nyakweba said in a ruling that the corporate veil should be lifted so that the directors can be punished for declining to comply with a court order.
The court said the directors of Safaricom should be arrested and presented before court for sentencing soonest but not later than January 10.
“In the upshot, I allow application dated 3rd November,2022 as prayed. As a result , I issue a warrant arrest against all directors of Safaricom PLC. Upon arrest , directors be arraigned before me for sentencing as soon as will be reasonably practical and in the eventnot later than 10th January,2023,” Magistrate Nyakweba.
Safaricom PLC operated Invesco Assurance account through Paybill 980100 as per the court order.
The company is the Garnishee holding the money on behalf of Invesco and Emphantus Mbogo Njuki, the complaint in the case, has been trying to get his compensation by compelling Safaricom to release the money.
Those to be arrested include the CEO Ndegwa and directors Dilip Pal, Christopher Kirugia, Winifred Ouko, Raisibe Morathi , Sitholizwe Mdalalose , Rose Ogega , Francesco Bianco and former CEO Michael Joseph.
The said the telcos has refused to comply with a court order and they should therefore be punished.
Njuki Through lawyer Morris Mugendi urged the court to punish the directors by jailing them for a term not exceeding six months or as the court may deem fit attaching their assets to compensate him for the loss suffered.
Njuki told the court that Safaricom PLC was duly served with a Garnishee order absolute on 4th October this year for the release Sh 7.7 million.
The order, he said, was served to the company through email but the organisation has failed and ignored to adhere with the order.
“For this reason, the directors of Safaricom are therefore in contempt of court ,” Njuki told the court.
“A Garnishee order obsolete do issue against Safaricom limited directing that all monies belonging to INVESCO Assurance company the judgement debtor herein held. The admitted amount to the extent of Sh.5,778,887.24 as well as accrued interests and costs of these Garnishee proceedings ,” stated the said order.
He added that Safaricom PLC conduct has completely denied him the fruits of Garnishee absolute.
The Kajiado Maa Museum and Centre for Indigenous Cultures (MMCIC) speaking for the locals, has cautioned against the rush to subdivide and sale of land within the protected Olorgesailie prehistoric site in Kajiado West Sub-county.
MMCIC has now petitioned members of the World Heritage Committee Advisory Bodies, the National Museums Of Kenya, the Kenya National Commission for Unesco, the Ministry of Lands and other government agencies in an effort to stop further subdivision and sale of the land.
According to the petition, A local land-buying company is said to have questionably acquired 40 acres in the area. The sale of the 50 feet by 100 feet plots in a project to construct residential homes that is now in its third phase has sparked protests from elders and other stakeholders. Subdivision is prohibited in the property that is registered as communal land.
“We want the developer to halt the [project] until a cultural asset mapping is undertaken, development of buffer maps [done] and the [project linked] to culture, tourism and economic development of the area as per the UNWTO [United Nations World Tourism Organisation] frameworks,”the petition, reads in part.
MMCIC has accused the land-buying company of using underhand means to obtain its approvals for subdivision, claiming that the maps clearly identify Oltepesi village as the project site while, in reality, the sale is going on in Olorgesailie.
Olorgesailie was voted the Best Tourism Village by UNWTO during the 24th session of its General Assembly in Madrid, Spain, last year. The award acknowledged efforts by locals to embrace ecotourism as a path to sustainable development.
The Olorgesailie prehistoric site was discovered by Louis and Mary Leakey in the 1940s before being excavated by Glynn Isaac for his dissertation research during the 1960s. A museum was gazetted in 1970.
According to experts, the proposed development will interfere with critical archaeological evidence that forms the basis for its nomination as a world heritage site.
According to local lore, Olorgesailie means the place where their ancestors were buried by volcanic eruptions from Suswa and Longonot mountains many years ago. They believe that the site used to be a freshwater lake with their ancestors living in nearby human settlements.
The prehistoric site offers a unique insight into the evolution of early humans and contains evidence of continuous human activities from 1.2 million to 490,000 years ago.
Narok Senator Ledama Olekina has opened a box of pandora on how Kenyans suffer in the hands of commercial banks who frustrate them with crude conditions that comes with taking loans from them.
Perhaps from complaints from many frustrated customers, the fearless legislator has threatened to institute class action suits against banks that he alleges are stealing from Kenyans through fraudulent loans.
Is your bank stealing from you? Do you have a loan with any bank in Kenya? Has your loan been bought by another bank? If so please – call both Banks and demand your statements you will be shocked!!!! Another scam!!! A class action lawsuit loading…..
Following his threat, banks customer service representatives have camped in the eye opening tweet to help salvage the reputation of their banks.
An analysis of the complaints under the thread, shows the Co-Op Bank and Equity Bank are the most with the complaints with the former getting the most negative feedback from their customers.
Below are some of the sampled comments directed at Co-Op Bank.
When you get online business loan from @Coopbankenya Dear XXXX, Your E-loan of KES 71,400.00 has been approved and credited into your account 011xxxx0565000. We have deducted fees & Excise duty of KES 18,138.46. Your first instalment of KES 11,900.00 is due on 08-01-2023.
Am shocked to see that @KeEquityBank do insurance refunds after a loan top up,why doesn't @Coopbankenya do the same??nikuibiwa tumekua tukiibiwa ama hakuna such refunds?
@Coopbankenya these ones are the worst, they claimed my official number borrowed and defaulted a loan on enquiring the name of the borrower it never matched mine, but i still paid coz they deduct direct to the acc.
@Coopbankenya I need answers,juu naona mmeiva kupelekwa kortini,I tried to claim my insurance fee and I was told it's non refundable!I have done several top ups no refund ever,we are in the same country na @KeEquityBank and I have seen Wana rudisha ,why not cop bank?
@FamilyBankKenya Had their systems down and couldn't effect my payments, they charged me 5k for late repayment, called their call centers with no avail
@AbsaKenya refunded insurance cash and recently, money I lost through scammers (my 3 debit cards were deducting money without my approval simultaneously)@KCBGroup and @National_Bank declined to refund. They told me to instead stop shopping online. In which era are we living in?
@NCBABankKenya I requested for my statement a year ago only to find out that my loan balance had gone up. Am now told that every 31st day of every month adds up to a month in a year. So the year now has 13 months according to them. The issue has never been resolved one yr down.
I had asimilar experience and they had zero chills and now am just learning that @FamilyBankKenya owes me some good momey as insurance refund when unaitas bought off my loan that they supposedly still had the audacity to claom I owe and blocked my account.
Former Siaya governor Cornel Rasanga is facing possible arrest over alleged corruption according to reports that are emerging from the local media. Rasanga who served as the county’s governor for 10 years is being accused of having been engaged in a string of corruption deals during his tenure.
It’s reported that detectives drawn from the EACC have been on his trail for long and are closing in on his arrest.
Being of the closest allies of the ODM leader Raila Odinga, Rasanga never at a point stopped to brag about his closeness to the opposition leader and during the handshake period when corruption allegations were labeled against him, he told the critics off exuding confidence that he was untouchable.
Siaya County is one of the least developed counties in the region and this is attributed to grand corruption that marred the Rasanga’s regime. Previously, it was reported that the county had lost Sh2.8 billion to corruption since 2013, a senior Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) official said.
The commission’s Western Kenya regional deputy head, Danstan Aura, described the state of corruption in the county as worrying, saying 313 corruption cases have been reported to the commission since 2013.
Rasanga with his ousted chief officers.
More allegations being brought up includes the involvement of Eng. James Onyango who was the Chief Officer Public works, Energy, Roads and Transport for the retired governor. He’s suspected to have been the silent dealer who brokered deals for Rasanga.
Eng. Onyango who happens to be a relative to the former governor, is said to have been entrusted by Rasanga to the lucrative docket to help in cutting dubious deals.
Rasanga is said to have been one of the key financiers of Raila in his unsuccessful presidential campaign.
According to a gazette notice by EACC, ODPP had approved charges against Rasanga for his involvement in embezzlement of funds. However, this disappeared silently as at the time handshake was in motion and being Raila’s close ally, he survived the arrest.
Gazette notice.
In September this year, EACC had launched investigations into the Sh400 million corruption scandal by Siaya County government officials.
According to a statement, the anti–graft body stated that the county officials illegally siphoned county funds within 12 days after the August general election.
The EACC further noted that the officials defied Governor James Orengo’s impediment on payment of allowances and pending bills and instead went ahead to wire the public funds to their accounts.
The anti – graft body further stated that officials in the finance department received 6 payments in the period between August 31 and September 6, 2022.
The payments were Sh225 000 said to have funded travel cost, Sh200 000 for accommodation, Sh120 000 on advertising awareness and public campaign, Sh250 000 utilized on tuition fees and a separate Sh93 000 on other tuition fees.
Another senior staff member received 3 payments including Sh200 000, Sh425 000 and Sh125 000 for travel, daily subsistence, and bank service respectively.
In a separate case, EACC further points out that Sh112 million was channeled from the county executive bank account to clerks of various county assembly committees, with the clerks receiving up to five payments in one day.
With Raila now not in power, Rasanga together with his partner Eng. Onyango and the rest of Murray officials, lacks the immunity once enjoyed and unlikely to escape the EACC dragnet.
Mount Kenya University, Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), and Daystar University are among the private universities that admit government-sponsored students.
Available data indicate that Private universities have admitted 47,548 government-sponsored students and received Sh12.146 billion since the State started sending students to the institutions in 2016.
Ever since the introduction of the program by the government in 2016, Mount Kenya University has received the highest number of government-sponsored students in the placement by Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) becoming the largest earner from the program.
Available data from Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) indicates that Mount Kenya University with a capacity of 4,995 received 2,247 students and was followed by Kabarak University which had requested 3,300 students and was given 2,181 in the year 2020.
Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) with a capacity of 1,980 received 867 students while KCA University with an ability of 3300 received 1363.
Baraton University which had requested 2,000 students was given 532 students while Gretsa University with a capacity of 850 students received 241 students.
“Kenya Methodist University asked for 2,565 and received 662 students while Uzima University College asked for 170 students and was given 42,” data shows.
Scott Christian University requested 1500 students but was only given 13 while International Leadership University which requested 50 students did not receive any students.
Available data from Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) indicates that Mount Kenya University with a capacity of 4,995 received 2,247 students and was followed by Kabarak University which had requested 3,300 students and was given 2,181 in the year 2020.
Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) with a capacity of 1,980 received 867 students while KCA University with an ability of 3300 received 1363.
Baraton University which had requested 2,000 students was given 532 students while Gretsa University with a capacity of 850 students received 241 students.
“Kenya Methodist University asked for 2,565 and received 662 students while Uzima University College asked for 170 students and was given 42,” data shows.
Scott Christian University requested 1500 students but was only given 13 while International Leadership University which requested 50 students did not receive any students.
The troubled Daystar University declared a capacity of 200 and 169 students have been placed in the institution while Riara University requested 100 students but has since received 101 while Africa Nazarene University with a capacity of 1,560 students has received 738 students.
The United States International University and Strathmore University stopped admitting government-sponsored students due to what insiders say is conspiracy while admitting and favourism of their competitors as well as due to the under-funding.
Data released by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) this year (2022) shows that private institutions had declared to absorb 27, 192 students.
Just like in previous years, according to the placement list, the Thika-based Mount Kenya University was allocated 1, 580 students, the highest beneficiary.
A statement from MKU attributed the increasing desire by students to join the institution to several reforms undertaken to enhance quality but several players have disputed the statement.
Africa Nazarene (333), Africa International University (100), University of Eastern Africa, Baraton (570), Daystar University (227), Great Lakes University (260), Gretsa University (484), International College Leadership University, (111) and Kabarak University, (565).
Others are KCA University (405), Kenya Highlands Evangelical University (533), Kiriri Women’s University of Science and Technology, (176), Lukenya University (310), Marist International University College (151), the Management University of Africa (374) and Pan Africa Christian University (318).
Riara University got 118, Scott Christian University (329), St Paul’s (245), East African University (446), Umma University (50), and United States International University (221).
Pioneer International University and Zetech University were allocated 635 students while Tangaza University College received the lowest allocation of only 20 students.
Last year, a petition before the Education Committee in Parliament accused various private universities of charging higher fees than recommended by the state.
Mount Kenya university 16th Graduation List
This year (2022) Emuhaya MP Omboko Milemba urged the government to stop sending students to private universities, and, instead, divert the money to public universities.
“What’s the point of sending government-sponsored students to private universities?” he posed. “When we do that, we use public funds to build private universities.
He said that the government should consider doing away with the policy of placing state-sponsored students in private universities.
“The private universities, which are private entrepreneurship, are getting rich at the expense of public universities,” said Milemba.
Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu recently found himself on the receiving end after he suggested that the government was contemplating the withdrawal of funding to public universities.
A reliable source from a private university has hinted that cartels within education have been making money every year during the placement period.
He said that not once that those with deep pockets always find themselves benefiting from the system indicating that the Kenya kwanza government should set up a committee to investigate the matter.
Elsewhere, Mount Kenya University recorded the highest number of murder cases in 2021.
A crime syndicate involving foreign nationals and corrupt government officials extorting businesses and grabbing land in Malindi and Kilifi county in general has been unearthed.
The syndicate also involves lawyers used by foreign nationals, mostly Italians to transfer land and company shares illegally and deny legal owners access to their properties, particularly in parts of Malindi.
Renzo Quaciari, an Italian My national and director of Denman Properties Limited, a local firm incorporated in the country is behind the syndicate.
Renzo Quaciari(Right) with Citizen Tv Journalist Jeff Koinange
In one instance, Renzo who lo is suspected to lead the syndicate of allegedly managed to work in cahoots with rogue officials at the Registrar of Companies to delete names of his two Italian colleagues – Marco Alimonti and Pusterla Giuseppe – all directors of Holborn Properties Limited from the register.
In the process of attempting f to take illegal possession of the firm based in Malindi, the Italian d also managed to dupe Registrar of d Companies that Marco and Pusterla had resigned and their shares of transferred to him.
In a letter dated February 3 2022 written through lawyer JK Mwarandu and Company Advocates and Commissioners for Oath, Marco who hold 200 ordinary shares in is Holborn Properties Limited said he came to find out that he was no 10 longer a shareholder nor a director of the company in December 21 2021.
He maintained that he never transferred his shares to anyone and neither had he resignedfrom the company as director as of was indicated in the Registrar of Companies register.
In the second case involving a firm Denman Properties Limited, the Italian national was said to have defrauded the two directors Marco and Pusterla by illegally transferring their shares and submitting a forged letter purporting that the two had transferred their shares and tendered resignation as directors of the company to the Registrar ofCompanies.
The two renowned foreign investors in Malindi have since maintained that they never resigned neither did they transfer their shares.
The two also are co-directors t of Bayview Properties Limited and Paddington Investments Limited all based in Malindi which were also ned affected after the crime syndicate invaded them in the extortion and of fraudulent ring.
Giuseppe Pusterla who also owns Casuarina Commercial Centre Limited and Antiochia Limited has also lost his two firms to the Renzo syndicate after his shares were ng illegally transferred to unknown ed people and his directorship forfeited without his consent.
Sources familiar with the crime syndicate confirmed that Renzo has of the tendency of using his foreign colleagues to register firms involved in property business in Malindi but later he turns against them transferring their shares illegally.
In the above cases, Renzo allegedly waited for the victims to travel outside the country before he put his tricks in practice. Sources said Renzo would call other shareholders telling them that Kenya government had put nd them on red alert and that they would not be allowed to travel back to Kenya. He later allegedly manipulated the companies’ shares to his own benefit after he forced his victims out of the companies.
The family of the late Asian tycoon Harrish Devani are accusing Prime Bank chairman Rashik Kantaria, Amar Kantaria, the bank’s executive director, directors VN Ponda and SK Shah all Asians of having taken advantage of their ailing son, Raj Devani to break his marriage and go ahead to loot the family’s multi- million properties. But lawyers in many cases involving Prime Bank say,the Devani case is just a tip of the iceberg as many borrowers have fallen prey to inside trading within the bank.
Raj Devani
Initially, the Devanis and Kantarias were close family members but when the elder Devani died, the Kantarias started playing dirty games on the family. Briefs we have is that one of the sons of Rashik has been experiencing marriage troubles, and secretly, the family pushed to have him take over ailing Raj Russian wife, Adina Devani. Raj is related to Kenyan fugitive late tycoon Yagnesh Devani as he is his nephew.
Yagnesh fled Kenya in 2009 over Kenya Pipeline Company scandal. Bindya Harikrishna Devani (Raj’s mother) has since 2015 served as her son’s legal guardian, while the ailing tycoon’s sister Bindya Devani also runs the vast estate. Raj was admitted to Mathare Hospital for mental treatment. Raj in 2015 opposed the move to hospitalise him, arguing that it was a ploy by relatives to take control of the vast estate.
The tycoon’s mother in various court cases claims her son clandestinely transferred family assets used to his companies, and used them to loan secure more than Sh150 million in loans he defaulted.
The most contested asset is a family home in Runda valued at over Sh200 million, which Prime Bank targeted to recover a Sh150 million loan it lent Raj. The home, located on a 1.2-acre piece of land, has a three-storey a four-bedroom guest wing, and a six- bedroom staff quarter. It also has a water geyser, gym and a bar. What has surprised many is the fact that the Kantarias spared the Spring Valley residence occupied by estranged Raj’s wife.
Devani built the home in Runda with her husband who died in 2001, leaving behind an estate estimated to be worth Sh800 million. The estate also had prime pieces of land, shares in Nairobi and United Kingdom- based companies as well as cash in several bank accounts.
It has emerged that the Kantarias and Raj secretly transferred ownership of the land to Raj without consulting the family. The Kantarias even engaged a lawyer for Raj in 2015 to state that he was mentally fit and that his family was merely trying to wrest his wealth from him under the pretext that he was ill. Raj is a director of Shimmers Boutique Limited, Simkan Investments Group, Shimmers Group Limited, Shimmers Investments Limited, Sasha Holdings Limited, Jade Petroleum and Adra International. Raj and Adina have two children.
Two of Raj’s companies, Jade Petroleum and Adra International, have been linked to the Sh44 billion Imperial Bank fraud. Runda home is owned by Sasha Holdings, the firm Adra International used as security for a Sh150 million loan from Prime Bank with the help of Kantarias.
Ms Devani does not know when the suit property was transferred from her late husband’s estate to Sasha International. She does not know and was never consulted by Raj
Runda home is owned by Sasha Holdings, the firm Adra International used as security for a Sh150 million loan from Prime Bank with the help of Kantarias.
“Ms Devani does not know when the suit property was transferred from her late husband’s estate to Sasha International. She does not know and was never consulted by Raj or any other director of Sasha before, during and after loans were advanced to Adra International. She continued living in the suit property comfortably without the knowledge that it had been transferred to Sasha Holdings,” she says.
Devani and her daughter Bindya told the High Court in 2015 that Raj had since his father’s death depleted the family estate mainly due to the mental illness, and that he is unable to comprehend the basics of finance.
On January 26 2015 the petitioners, Devani and Bindya, filed a petition (Misc Petition No 6 of 2015) seeking that Raj be declared to be suffering from mental disorder. In the petition, the mother being first petitioner was to be appointed the guardian of Raj with powers to take any action necessary to seek, and obtain medical treatment for him; that the petitioners be jointly appointed as the managers of the estate of Raj with powers to take action necessary subject to the provisions of the Act (IR) for the protection and preservation The he of his estate including recovery of all monies payable to him, payment of all his just debts, management of all his businesses, execution of deeds and documents on his behalf and application for stay or such relevant action of all court proceedings instituted by or against him; and to take any necessary action to preserve and protect his interest.
The application also sought that pending the hearing and determination of the petition, an order does issue for the preservation and maintenance of status quo, by restraining the sale by way of private the treaty or auction, leasing, transfer or any dealing of all that property known as LR No 7785/39 (IR 30715) red Ruaka Road, Old Runda Estate, by lo to Prime Bank Ltd, its agents, employees or otherwise howsoever; and an order Raj for the preservation and maintenance of status quo of his estate including all property, shares and assets.
On February 18 2015 the application dated January 26 2015 was heard. The petitioners reported that the respondents had been served but had not filed any response. A ruling was delivered on February 19 2015 in which the court found that Raj had been proved to be a person suffering from mental disorder who could not take care of himself or conduct his own affairs. The application was allowed.
Surprisingly after the February 19 ruling, on March 17 2015 Prim Bank Limited as an applicant filed motion dated the same day seekin to be enjoined as an interested part claiming to have been aggrieved and seriously affected by the orders made on January 26th 2015 and 19th the February 19 2015.
Prime Bank sought that the Raj orders be varied, discharged and/or set aside in regard to LR No 7785/39 Act (IR No 30715) Ruaka Road, Nairobi. The bank’s case was that the orders of had affected its rights as chargees in nt a loan granted to Adra International of Limited on the security of, inter alia, a charge over LR No 7785/39 (IR No and 30715) registered in the names of Sasha Holdings Limited (the chargor). Chargor means person or people who to signs a legal document of a property or mortgage.
The borrower had utilised ht the facilities, but had committed nd default leading to the issuance of the statutory notice of sale and notice to sell by public auction both of which by had been served. It was stated that te the directors of Adra International fer Limited included Raj, and other directors of Sasha Holdings Ltd. The 5) two directors had guaranteed the by loan facility. This information was, according to the bank, known to the petitioners, and yet they had not disclosed it to the court.
The petitioners opposed the bank’s application dated March 2015 by filing grounds of opposition and replying affidavits. Adra International Limited sought declaration that due to the mental incapacity of Raj all the deeds, actions, commitments, obligations, duties and promises in connection with any charges, guarantees, agreements and promissory notes written or oral, contained in any document or deed or memoranda be declared null and void for want of capacity.
It sought that a declaration does be issued that all actions by Raj in relation and in connection with Shimmers Boutique Limited, Simkan Investments Limited, Shimmers Group Limited and Shimmers Investments Limited and their assets especially LR No 7785/39 Runda, LR No 214/394 Muthaiga and LR No 14897 Tiwi, Kwale, be null and void due to illegality for breach of trust, and lack of mental capacity and any transfers, charges, promissory notes or agreements executed by Raj be declared null and void.
Basically, the Devani family argument was, the charge documents that the bank was relying on were not executed by Raj and if they were, he could not have understood the contents or what they meant as he was by the time mentally ill.
Further, they accused Rashik (the chairman of the board of directors of Prime Bank) and VN Ponda (a member of the board of the bank), ders among others, who were old friends of the late Harrish Devani and his wife Bindya Devani knew Raj mental condition, and had manipulated these relationships to create the said charge.
It was alleged that no monies had been disbursed following the charge. s in Lastly, it was alleged that Raj and VN Ponda were trustees in respect of the assets of the estate of the late Harrish Devani, and that they had of fraudulently betrayed this trust by or). using LR No 7785/39 (IR No 30715) who Ruaka Road, Old Runda, Nairobi to obtain the loan being sought to be recovered by the bank.
By the time of Harrish death, the property was registered in the name of Shimmers Boutique Limited, a company associated with him. The two had, however, since learnt that on May 5 2013, this company had transferred the property to Sasha Holdings Ltd.
The transfer had been executed by Raj as director of both companies. He had executed on behalf of the transferor and transferee. He had then used the property as security and had made Sasha Holdings Limited to borrow a total of Sh250 million from both the Bank and African Banking Corporation.
The family had no idea why such large borrowing had been necessary, and how the money had been spent. They did not know how, without a grant of letters of representation, Raj had been involved in the transactions leading to the transfer of the property to companies related to him.
The Devani family even annexed the transfer and abstract of title in which the borrowing and charge were indicated.
An estranged wife of Permanent Secretary Julius Kiplangat Korir has narrated how he used to beat her when they were still married.
Evelyn Koech told Senior Resident Magistrate Muthoni Nzibe that she was married to the PS for seven years, five of which were marred by physical violence.
“We got married on 28th June 2013 and separated 21st November 2020. We have two children aged seven and four years old,” Koech told the court.
Koech who works as human resource manager testified that Korir started physically abusing her in 2015.
When asked why she stayed in the abusive relationship for years, the woman said Korir would always apologize afterwards and even call their pastor to plead with her not walk out of marriage or press charges.
She produced some emails her husband would write apologizing after such beatings.
Koech said her worst beating was in 2018 when she was 9 months pregnant and only three days away from delivery.
She recalled trying to protect her belly from the blows and later went to the hospital to check on he baby.
She thanked God that the doctor told her that her baby was fine and was born safely three days later.
According to her, on 17th September 2020 at 7.30 pm, she got home and released her nanny as was her routine.
“I was in the children’s room holding my younger one who was one and a half. I had released the house girl and was alone with the children,” Koech told the court.
She continued that after a while, Korir emerged through the door and shouted “leo utaniona, wapi chakula”.
Before she could utter a word, he was already slapping her on the cheeks.
All this while she was trying to guard her unborn baby.
The witness added that she informed her then husband that she had just arrived from work and had not checked whether there was food in the kitchen.
It was her testimony that Korir started to tear her clothes while beating as she screamed for help.
“I was wearing a dera dress. I started shouting “mnisaidie ananiua”.
The court heard that after the ordeal, Korir took the baby and went down stairs as she ran to the master bedroom and wore another dera thinking the worst is over.
But she was shocked when she opened the door and found Korir waiting for her with what she described as a masaai rungu.
She said she ran to the study room because it was next door but he followed her there and started beating her with the rungu which left marks all over her body.
“He took like like 10 minutes beating me. He was hitting me with the rungu. I have a lot of marks on my body inflicted by my former husband,” she testified.
Koech continued that Korir then pulled her down stairs asking her to go get the food.
The accused Julius Korir, complainant Everlyn Koech and Senior Principal Magistrate Caroline Muthoni Njagi during the ongoing hearing at Milimani Law Court Nairobi. PHOTO / CHRIS OJOW
We went to the kitchen where we got some githeri and sukuma wiki which we then placed on the side.
The court heard that while all these was happening, the children were hiding in their play room downstairs.
Koech told the court that Korir left the food and started to pull her upstairs while hitting saying “kitu tu unaelewa ni kiboko, leo utaona”.
The court heard that the PS continued beating her up upstairs but at some point she managed to escape and ran downstairs to run out of the house.
However her ex-husband was after her and found her at the door trying to open the lock.
“He overpowered me, threw me down on the floor kicking me and hitting me on my head in the presence of the workers and the children who were watching by the side,” Koech testified.
The court heard that the workers were trying to intervene but as always he told them to never come near him when he was beating her.
With tears running down her cheeks, Koech added that there was blood on the floor because she now had injuries all over her body.
It was her testimony that after he was done beating her, he told her to go and report to the police as usual.
She told the court that she cried for a while then picked herself up. She approached Koech at the sofa where he was seated and asked him for the rungu he had used to beat her up. However, he broke it infront of her eyes. He told her, “hakuna mahali unapeleka hii”.
Koech then went upstairs and put on another dress because the one she had changed to was also torn in the process.
According to Koech, she packed the two dera dresses and left for Nairobi hospital where she was attended to and had to explain to the doctor what had happened.
Koech further stated that the attending doctor took a video of her injuries with her phone which was part of the evidence.
After treatment at about 2am, she drove to Hardy police station where she recorded the matter as she did many times before.
She was advised to go to the Traffic Headquarters to be examined by police doctor.
On 18th she went to traffic HQ where she was examined and thereafter issued with a P3 form which she took back to hardy police station.
Several parties had tried to mediate the marriage after the abuse.
DCI officers also visited the home and extracted the CCTV footage.
The court heard that the home CCTV had captured most the incident because thet had installed them in common places apart from bedrooms.
Two Americans have sued a senior official if the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
Ibrahim Ali Osman and Bishara Abdulrahman Nassir accuse EACC’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer over harassment Abdi Mohamud of harassing and threatening them over a parcel of land they acquired in Garissa County.
Ali and Abdulrahman say in a petition at the High Court that they are fearful that the Deputy CEO may make good his threats and indiscriminately deny them their right to quiet possession of the suit property.
They have sought orders restraining Mohamud, his agents, employees or servants from interfering with their, quiet possession of property known as LR NO GARISSA/BLOCK/ 1/259.
“This Court be and is hereby pleased to issue conservatory order restraining Mohamud, their agents, employees, servants, accomplices or any other person from interfering with the petitioners herein, quiet possession of property known as LR NO GARISSA/BLOCK/ 1/259 pending hearing and determination,” urged the Americans.
They also want OCS Garissa Police Station to ensure compliance with court order.
“In order stop to the impending wanton, unwarranted and illegal actions; there is need to immediately restrain the 1st Respondent and his agents lest they imagine that they are above the rule of law,” says the Americans.
They allege that they purchased the land from Dahir Omar Abdallah for Sh20 million.
According to court documents the land was initially owned by Abdallah who acquired ownership on 9th December 1994.
The duo claim they purchased the land with a view of constructing a permanent home and they began development on the land.
But they said Mohamud has on two occasions frustrated their attempts by bringing goons to demolish any ongoing developments.
The petitioners claim that Mohamud is using his influence and power to intimidate any person who tries to stop him from harassing their quiet possession including the Garissa Police officers.
It is alleged there was a dispute back in 1994 concerning ownership of the said land but the issue was settled by a Garissa Court where Abdallah successfully proved ownership of the property.
The petitioners claim that on or about 22rd September this year the property was registered in favour of Nasir and an official search conducted on the following day indicated that Nasir was the owner of the land
“It is clear that Abdallah passes a good title to us and as such we should be able to enjoy quiet possession of the parcel of land,” said the Americans.
Fraud accusations against Deputy Commissioner For Co-Operative Development Hesborn Mbuthia Kiura have emerged following a letter addressed to the DCI by a whistleblower calling for investigation into has been labeled as abuse of office, forgery, fraud , misrepresentation, corruption and conspiracy to defraud by Mr. Mbuthia ego also happens to be the liquidator of Dagoretti Nyakinyua Sacco and Mr. Jimmy Kagoni amongst others.
In a letter dated 28th November 2022 seen by Kenya Insights and addressed to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation.Mr. Mbuthia is being accused of allegedly running a well organized criminal enterprise running a well organized criminal enterprise together with a few appointed agents to defraud and disenfranchise the long suffering members of Dagoretti Nyakinyua Sacco.
In his position as the liquidator of the Sacco and being in full control of the assets and operations of the Sacco, including large parcels of land in Naivasha, Nakuru and Gilgil, the whistleblower has included in his report that Mr. Mbuthia has been involved in large scale corruption and fraud on daily basis.
“These criminal enterprise began in the year 2020 after The Acting Commissioner for Co-operative Development extended Mr. Hesbon Mbuthia Kiura’s tenure as the liquidator of Dagoretti Nyakinyua Savings and Credit Co-operative Society Limited. Mr. Kiura who had reached the age retirement was reappointed under mysterious circumstances as the liquidator of Dagoretti Nyakinyua Savings And Credit Co- Operative Society Limited after his first term as liquidator came to an end. Consequently a plot was hatched by Mr. Kiura and his associates and in particular his partner in crime Mr Jimmy Kagoni, who is the immediate former CEO of Ekeza Sacco to defraud and enrich themselves by selling of 500 acres of the Saccos land. Mr Kiura subdivided the 500 acres land into 5 acre blocks and then purported to appoint a liquidation committee to sell of the 500 acres the same committee comprising of his own close associates.” The report says in part.
“This liquidation committee in collusion with Mr.Kiura and Mr Jimmy Kagoni, purported to appoint certain companies to act as sales agents in the sale of this 500 acres of land.” It continues.
The companies involved as sales agents according to the report includes; Stockbridge – Owned by Mr. Jimmy Kagoni, Faraja Settlers Limited, Hennel, Elites, Longonot and Gakuyo Real Estate Limited.
“These companies in collusion with Mr Kiura have been actively advertising in various broadcast media platforms and selling of the 5 acre blocks at double the value of the land and not only giving themselves hefty kickbacks and commissions which are shared with Mr. Kiura but also appropriating and sharing out half of the sale price among themselves. This daylight fraud is happening everyday to the detriment of the members of Dagoretti Nyakinyua Savings and Credit Co-operative Society Limited.” The report further says claiming that Mr Mbuthia is well aware of the facts together with his associates.
While calling for a full investigations into the matter, the whistleblower is requesting for liquidation of the savings firm’s accounts to be frozen, a look into the various sales details of parcels of lands and those still under processing to ascertain the fraud claims.
He’s also accusing Mr. Mbuthia of breaking the law, “Mr. Hesborn Mbuthia Kiura in his position as a public officer and entrusted with the assets of the people of Kenya has with impunity breached and continues to breach various laws including the constitution of Kenya, the Sacco Societies Act, and the penal code aided by Mr Jimmy Kagoni and various associates.” The report claims.
It further goes to call for investigations into the operations of Promitto Sacco which he alleges is an affiliate of the failed Ekeza Sacco and was simply rebranded to disguise the outfit and that it’s supposedly owned fully by Jimmy Kagoni.
“Mr. Jimmy Kagoni who was appointed as the Ceo of the now infamous Ekeza Sacco in September 2020, resigned as the Ceo of Ekeza Sacco in September 2022 after changing the name of Ekeza Sacco to Promitto Sacco as his personal property and even taking over and rebranding the offices of Ekeza Sacco at Pension Towers, Mezzanine Floor, Loita Street.” The report claims.
It also questions how the CEO who was appointed by the government to help revive a collapsed Sacco that defrauded the public of their hard earned money, turned to be a hyena a stole from the same sacco and changed its name.
“Promitto is operating fraudulently and with participation and full knowledge of the same Mr. Hezborn Mbuthia Kiura who is a beneficial owner of this fraudulent company. Mr. Hezborn Kiura and Jimmy Kagoni have been investing the money they defraud from Dagoretti Nyakinyua Savings and Credit Co-operative Society Limited in there new private entity Promitto Sacco which in reality is Ekeza Sacco after they changed the name and nature of Ekeza Sacco to Promitto Sacco without the knowledge of the members of Ekeza Sacco some who have never recovered their money to date.” The report goes on to claim.
Jimmy Kagoni.[PHOTO/ COURTESY]Kagoni was appointed following revelations that Ksh1.5 billion had been transferred unlawfully to the accounts of Gakuyo Real Estate, owned by former Ekeza chairman David Kariuki Ngari.
An investigation by the Co-operatives ministry discovered that the Thika-based Calvary Chosen Centre bishop and his wife withdrew Ksh1.5 billion to their personal account.
Ngari was taken to court and charged with fraud, but Ekeza management and members reached an out-of-court settlement and the case was withdrawn on October 18, 2019.
While calling for thorough investigations, the whistleblower says, “this is a conspiracy between two people entrusted to manage the assets and money of hundreds of thousands of good and hard working people of Kenya and instead Mr. Kiura and Mr. Kagoni decided to conspire and defraud Kenyans to enrich themselves and their families.”
KOKO Networks is a venture-backed technology company operating in East Africa and India. In its portfolio, “We build and deploy dense networks of cloud-connected “KOKOpoints” inside local corner stores, which serve as consumer access points for goods and services delivered in partnership with major suppliers.”
Following recent serious revelations of allegations by a whistleblower -victim who expressed frustrations and injustice following unprocedural and unfair dismissal from job with Koko network company has unravelled exploitation, racial discrimination at the company that could be a farewell ceremony for those involved or the organisation as whole from the Kenyan market.
The message reads, “I’m actually very frustrated Weldon. I was fires from my job at KOKO Networks after i spoke up against racism in the organization! I started working at KOKO on 07 June 2022. They forced me to resign on 16 Sept 2022(on my birthday). So now i decided am going to sue for wrongful termination. My boss Alexander King is what could only be describes as a white supremacist. He said to my face that he dont take advice from low paid Africans. So when i escalated to HR, turns out HR has massive white savior complex. So she asked me to resign saying the COO Matt Schiller said he doesnt care about culture issues. A white manager at KOKO earns $45,000 while a Black manager earns $8,000”
This is one among many cases of racial discrimination that has taken place within the Kenyan territory and the perpetrators have been deported, and if these claims are to go by, Mr.Alexander King and COO Matt Schiller should follow suit.
This applies to the infiltrated moles in the organisation that have shown character of the same. All these after thorough investigation by the relevant authorities. Their actions represents the secret values of the organisation in a african land.
The labor exploitation of the black managers being paid almost four times less of what white managers in the same cadre are paid is also a serious matter of concern. It is not a secret that the margin is as a result of racial discrimination.
Mary Wambui Mungai’s name could easily pass unnoticed but in the corridors of power and business world, it is a name to reckon with due to the influence she wields.
Her company Puma Holdings Limited is involved in multibillion tender supplies with Kenya government and also in East and Central Africa. Her other firm is Kyanda Supreme engaged in furniture imports. She fell out with former president Uhuru Kenyatta which saw her dragged to courts.
Kenya Revenue Authority linked her business firms to tax evasion running into billions of shillings. Her association with a key politician being one of her campaign financiers, has seen her become a key power baron and political wheeler dealer being sought out to broker mega deals.
Currently, Wambui’s name and that of former Kiambu governor William Kabogo feature in the battle over unfrozen Sh2.3 billion by state agencies.
Former Gov William Kabogo
Consequently, three Kenyans are locked in a court battle with a woman from Southeast Asian nation of Laos over Sh2.3 billion held in EcoBank accounts after the state withdrew a petition that had frozen the cash on money laundering fears.
The three Kenyans – Stephen Maina Njenga, Felix Rantu Lekishe and Solomon Joseph Maina – have obtained a court order blocking those in EcoBank from releasing the money held in three bank accounts to KiwiPay PTE Ltd, through its local subsidiary Kiwipay Kenya Ltd and Monthida Rashi, a Laotian.
The Kenyans obtained the freeze order after Assets Recovery Agency, which agreed to drop the push to have the billions seized and forfeited to the government.
Stephen Maina Njenga claims to be the son of Maina Njenga, while Solomon Maina is related to Ephraim Maina of Kirinyaga constructions.
ARA had suspected that the company was involved in credit or debit card fraud and may be part of an international syndicate. However, it was established to be doing clean business locally and internationally.
The billions of shillings belong that the firm to Kiwipay PTE Limited through its local subsidiary Kiwipay (Kenya) Limited have been cleared by both ARA and Interpol.
After clearance, court issued an order allowing someone who is not a director to operate the account and removed representatives of Kiwipay PTE, a Frenchman Gregory Schmidt. The matter has caught the attention of the French embassy in Kenya after Schimidit was forced to flee the country fearing for his life.
Kiwipay PTE owns 58pc of shares in Kiwipay Kenya Limited. The person who is not a director and was allowed by court to operate account is Stephen Njenga Maina. He has been to the bank several times trying to transact the money. He is said to be a ghost director and to force payments, and scare both bank officials together with those involved, he has brought on board Wambui.
Maina camp boasts of state house operatives. The camp has been intimidating staff officers at State Law office threatening them with sackings if they do not bring on board directors of Kiwipay Kenya limited who had resigned allowing Monthida Rashi to be the sole director.
Lawyer Dennis Mosota
Lawyer Dennis Mosota of MM Advocates and close to Wambui is part of the legal team fighting for Njenga Maina. Also caught up in the saga is lawyer Isaac Rene of Ren and Hans Advocates who claim to act for Rashi.
Lawyer Isaac Rene (Left) together with former LSK President Nelson Havi.
The move has raised suspicion since it is said that Mosota was instrumental in having Singapore, Rene represent Rashi in the case.
It is imperative to note that Rashi is in the country illegally having landed in Kenya using a tourist foreign visa. She has no work permit and she is suspected to be engaging in WeChat illicit trade.
Interpol has profiled those involved in the saga after the French embassy raised concerns. Wambui and Kabogo have used fortunes to finance the fraud that roped in junior manager EcoBank and a web of lawyers.
It is also imperative to note that the court has issued two conflicting orders. One dated of September 29 2022 to have status quo pending hearing and a second issued on October 24 2022 and dated October 25 2022 allowing Stephen Njenga Maina who resigned to operate the account and removing the investors Kiwipay (Kenya) Limited representative from bank account signatory.
Maina had planned to withdraw the millions of shillings and transfer to Wambui firms Puma Ltd and Kyanda Supreme.
The state agency had alleged that the firm was involved in an intricate money laundering scheme to hide the source of illicit funds.
Immediately after being given a clean bill of health, shareholders of KiwiPay Kenya started fighting over ownership of the firm and a share of the Sh2.3 billion after the state showed willingness to drop the suit. One faction of fighting directors has brought on Wambui while another Kabogo.
The locals claim that they have been dropped as directors and shareholders of the KiwiPay Kenya Ltd and now want to be bought out, if the parent company KiwiPay PTE Ltd no longer wants them as owners of the firm.
Kiwipay PTE entered into a deal where Kenyans signed documents not to be part of shareholders and were later dropped as owners However, the local directors made a retreat threatening Schmidt of Duse French passport Number 18FH37641 been forcing him to flee.
The case is before Justice David with Majanja and Wambui lawyers are representing one of the parties involved.
Court papers filed by Njenga ctor. partly reads: “The 1st (KiwiPay PTE) MM and 2nd (Ms Rashi) respondents be and are hereby directed to buy out petitioners from the 4th respondent (KiwiPay Kenya), if the 1st and 2nd respondents are desirous of claim remaining the sole shareholders of the 4th Respondent”.
The parent company is based in Singapore, and claims to deal with digital payment services such as QR code solutions for retail shops, hotels and restaurants. It enables foreign e-wallet solutions such as Alipay, SamsungPay, ApplePay, WeChatPay and more.
When KiwiPay Kenya was registered on June 3 2020, Rashi and the three Kenyans were listed used as shareholders. Rashi and the that Frenchman are owners after buying -Bank out Kenyans.
Maina, Lekishe and Karimoni that each held 2,900 shares equivalent to cting a 7.3pc stake while Rashi had 8,000 or a 20pc stake. KiwiPay PTE owned a 58.3pc stake, making it the largest shareholder. But the Kenyans were later replaced on September 15 and ownership transferred to Rashi, growing her stake to 41.7pc
The company also enlisted Victor Ngure Githua, who holds zero shares, as a director.
The Anti-Corruption Court lifted the freeze of the Sh2.3 billion held in the three accounts at and EcoBank. The reasons behind the consent were not made public.
The release of the billions has an turned nasty with cases pending scheme after being filed by the three Kenyans at the commercial division Justice Majanja blocked Ecobank from releasing Sh2.3 billion in the bank accounts at Muthangari branch, pending the determination of the petition.
Njenga said Schmidt has been transacting in the three bank accounts yet they are the only signatories and has transferred up to Sh2 billion from the company in Kenya and wired it to a bank account in Singapore.
The transactions were done through Internet banking between October last year and March 9 deal 2022, court documents show.
“In the circumstances, our eholders clients hereby declare a dispute against you, Gregory Schmidt and Monthida Rashi, on account of misuse of the company’s Internet banking credentials and irregular and unauthorised withdrawal of money from the company’s accounts,” the petition states.
The Kenyans say their sudden removal as directors and of sh shareholders is unlawful because T the process for their ouster was Lusal not followed as required under the Educ companies Act.
In the Nairobi Commercial and Tax Division Court, Stephen Njenga ghost Maina, Felix Rantuu Lekishe and many Solomon Joseph Maina petitioned Kiwipay PTE Limited, Minthida T Rashi, Victor Ngure Kithua and that Kiwipay (Kenya) Limited before Justice DS Majanja seeking orders want that pending the interparties hearing and determination of the stude parties application and the petition, the schol shareholding and directorship of m of Kiwipay (Kenya) Limited be estab restored to the status as usual, and they maintained last directors and shareholders.
They also sought orders that Kiwipay PTE Limited, Monthida alloca Rashi and Victor Ngure Githua be restrained from altering the bank operation mandates of Kiwipay (Kenya) Limited in respect to the accounts held at EcoBank Limited report -Muthangari branch 6682003088, 6682003059 and 6682003378.
Justice Majanja gave the allow orders giving the mention date of the case October 21 2022. Last week, Kabogo and Wambui team met at Muthangari Bank all out to withdraw money leading to a stalemate.
However, on October 24 2022 court gave other orders directing EcoBank Limited Muthangari branch to forthwith restrict any transactions on the accounts apart from Swift RTGS.
Kiwipay (Kenya) Limited was registered on June 3 2020 with Rashi from Laos and Kenyans Stephen Njenga Maina, Felix Rantuu Lekishe, Solomon Joseph Maina and Robert Lemerketo as directors.
The latest records from the company registry showed that the majority of shares are owned ion by Kiwipay PTE Ltd, a firm from Singapore. Lemerketo’s name does not appear on the current official records held at the registrar of companies.
Justice Esther Maina had prohibited the company and its directors from withdrawing or transferring the funds for 90 days as the ARA probed the source of billions.
The company wanted the bank to release the documents expeditiously as it sought to prove that it was engaged in genuine business.
KiwiPay stated that its business has been hurting after the funds at Ecobank were frozen by the court.
“We having written to ARA in having the matter concluded fast. Our business is hurting as a result of freeze orders.
The company is facing multiple suits arising from the freeze orders and, we urge the court to issue strict timelines for the bank to provide us with all the list of documents we requested,” said the firm in its pleadings.
Leaders come through for the people during hard times like this. Yes , that’s the yardstick to gauge the leadership level of the people you braved the scorching sun to cast a ballot for them.
Mombasa county MP Hon Zamzam Mohammed has been sensational and indeed phenomenon leader who is always ready to help and extend a hand of comfort and support to many people thus earning the well deserved respect and the admiration of all and sundry. She has been a true example and definition of a Leader who has earned the right to be referred to as such.
The best leaders are readers of people. They have the intuitive ability to understand others by discerning how they feel and recognizing what they sense. They have the abilities to know the right way to solve issues and develop progress.
Hon Zamzam Mohammed is such an example. She is a person endowed with sheer brilliance and a leader who possess the technical know-how to serve and deliver. In the first few days of her service to the great people of this county , the MP has been active in parliament floor, agitating for the welfare of women and children who have suffered the brunt of Domestic violence and abuse.
She has been instrumental in empowering those who are less fortunate and addressing issues that affect women and youths.
Hon Zamzam is a leader who wants the best for her people. A visionary woman who has seen and witnessed what bad leadership creates in the society and has vowed to save them from the bondage of poverty and bad leadership.
What is clear is that leaders must commit to champion change – to be transparent about their goals for change, to align their incentives systems to drive the change, and to make sure that they are honest about their agitation. Luckily Hon Zamzam stands for and believes in these ideals.
Mombasa county needed someone like Zamzam who is spending time with her people,accessible and trying to help our mothers and youths through initiatives aimed to empower them and starting small businesses for them. By the grace of God, their prayers have been answered.
Richard Ngatia, the embattled Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) boss is a man on the edge trying to make up with President William Ruto following the Azimio loss in the last election.
Ngatia had vied for the Nairobi governorship a position that he was kicked out of during the nominations. He was forced to give up his position for Polycarp Igathe who was the Azimio’s candidate and was trounced by UDA’s Johnson Sakaja.
Ngatia was one of the businessmen who championed for the Jubilee government during the 2013 election and contributed immensely to the Uhuru/Ruto duo. As fate would have it, Ngatia fell out with Ruto and sided with Uhuru who led the better part of the second term.
Ngatia benefited from Uhuru’s government and bagged mega deals largely in the healthcare sector. He’s one of the benefactors of the controversial Kemsa scandal that saw taxpayers lose billions in the Covid 19 pandemic.
According to those in the know, the besieged KNCCI boss has been making frantic calls for a meeting with the president wuth the sim of mending their relationship and was lucky enough to have secured an appointment recently in the guise of discussing business under his led KNCCI body.
Ruto has vowed to go after the Covid millionaires in which Ngatia is implicated.
Mount Kenya tycoons openly endorsed Azimio’s Raila Odinga and the president didn’t mince his words in criticizing their stand and it is understood that he vowed to go after them.
Smelling the rat, Ngatia has been trying to isolate himself from the region’s businessmen in a bid to convince Ruto that he is not one of them.
There are fake theories being peddled in this case including the narrative that Ngatia supported UDA’s Sakaja after being bundled out of the race. In reality, he fully endorsed Igathe and the desperate too late claims are to please the president and his handlers in a bid to protect his business interests.
Another lie being touted is that Ruto had reached out to Ngatia to vie for the governorship under UDA, the truth is far given that the businessman had minimal influence a reason why he was replaced by Igathe.
Ruto in his anti-corruption campaign, has reiterated that he’ll go for those who swindled public funds regardless of the relationship he holds with them. For Ngatia who heavily campaigned against Ruto, it’s only a matter of time to see how the president will handle the Kemsa scandal and the Afya House cartels.
