After Stealing Sh180M From The Youth Fund, Bruce Odhiambo is Back Again With Another Scheme

Youth Enterprise Development Fund Board Chairman Bruce Odhiambo

By Nicholas Olambo

Renowned music producer and former Youth Fund boss Bruce Odhiambo has gone back to the music business. Bruce, the former chairman of Youth Enterprise and Development Fund, quit his job unceremoniously in March after he found himself at the centre of Sh 180 million scandals.
Bruce gave his studio, Johari Cleff Productions a state of the art facelift while serving as the Youth Fund boss.

The studio is now running ads in local stations to tap and nurture young singers. Upcoming artistes can call and sing, and the winner will bag Sh 1 million and a recording deal, less than 1 percent of the ‘stolen’ money. The move looks like a CSR job, a known PR tactic to blind the public of the wrong doings.

Bruce who resigned then went on a trip abroad has gone underground despite claiming that he stepped down to allow for investigations and was also ready to answer all questions on allegations raised against him. He was fingered of alleged theft of the money that was transferred in two tranches of sh 115 and 65 million shillings into the accounts of Quorandum Limited, ten days after he appointed Ms Catherine Namuye as the acting chief executive. The suspended Ms Namuye was the sole signatory fund’s account.

Since his ‘resignation’ nothing has been heard of his case, it has ‘disappeared’ just like that of any other ‘big fish’. Bruce is president’s friend who was appointed to the position of the former chair, and Evans Semelango fell out with the then Devolution minister Ann Waiguru. Reasons for a firing of Semelango were never looked into. Instead, the president went ahead to appoint his old friend Bruce who would quit office barely a year to the end of his term amid scandals.

Sh 180 can change lives of many young people across the country, and it’s sad that the money ended up in the pockets of individuals who are not youths who return to fool Kenyans with a lame recording deals and sh 1 million rewards, Johari Records currently running talent promotion ads across the media. Bruce is now coming back around to hoodwink youths with untimely deals. He had the time to work for the betterment of the youths while at the top seat instead used the chance to defraud the youths. Justice must not only be heard to be done but seen to be done, so many corrupt individuals who are highly connected go unpunished after they resign and make no more front page news.

Their cases are either thrown out, dismissed or hurriedly investigated and cleared. This music guru is not the first one; Kenyans are aware his case ‘died’ the moment he ‘resigned’ and he’s back to fool the public with the recording deal. If Bruce cared about the youth, he would not embezzle sh 180million.