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Post by job on Jun 24, 2009 23:31:59 GMT 3
The Standard newspaper is reporting today that an audit reveals corruption has been entrenched in the Youth Fund, citing numerous cases of lost hundreds and tens of millions. www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144017702&cid=4But they are totally missing the bigger point. More is being lost than they report, to well known Kibaki cronies. The real headline should be: TRANSCENTURY GROUP INVADES YOUTH FUND, KICKS OUT CEO .WHY WAS YOUTH ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT FUND CEO, UMURU WARIO ALONGSIDE THREE TOP MANAGERS, RECENTLY SACKED? Everyone by now knows Kibaki’s plutocracy called the TransCentury Group which has irregularly (by just a few pieces of silver) grabbed most Kenyan public corporations and even coerced their way into ownership of well performing private entities. It is a ruthless, greedy club of about a dozen Kingpins of primitive accumulation. This wealthy group controls and influences the Kibaki government without doubt, and anyone pondering over who the architects of the 2007 election stealing were, doesn’t need to go any further. The Group has immensely benefitted under the Kibaki era which has seen them irregularly acquire the East African Cables (EAC), KPLC (the shares formerly owned by NSSF), Development Bank of Kenya, Housing Finance Ltd, and Kenya Railways. It also grabbed an additional government shares offloaded at Safaricom and Telkom under nefarious foreign sounding covers. It is also still angling to loot majority of the shares the government intends to offload from KenGen, Mumias Sugar, Kenya Consolidated Bank, Kenya College of Communications and Technology and Kenya Reinsurance Company. Their fingerprints are all over recent dubious investment partnerships at the JKIA Airport, and in the energy sector. They also enjoy unfettered access to state contracts through a network of conflict of interest appointments of its own members and cronies in most state corporations, best exhibited by TransCentury member and KenGen CEO Eddy Njoroge. TransCentury owns power cable manufacturer EAC which supplies (near monopoly) both KPLC & KenGen. What is astounding is the greed exhibited by these TransCentury sharks. Despite all the leverage they enjoy in getting single-sourced state contracts and acquiring public assets for a song, with cumulative stocks so far surpassing Shs. 120 billion, their mouths are still watering over a relatively small fund set up to boost Youth Enterprise in the country. Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF)Majority of Kenya’s 13 million youth aged between 18 and 35 are unemployed, landless and lacking economic opportunities to earn a living. We witness daily the illegal and criminal activities of Mungiki youth in the Mt. Kenya region. So when a noble fund is initiated to provide loan opportunities for the youth, Kenyans should be breathing a sigh of relief at the possibility of reduced societal pressures brought about by youth unemployment.But the glutonous sharks at TransCentury won't let that happen! The YEDF was set up two years ago by the government, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, with a down payment of Shs 1 billion, to finance youth based ventures. So far, it is reported to have loaned out (interest @ 8% p.a.) about 65,000 investment projects (group and individual) across all provinces of Kenya. The model of financing involves leverage matching, whereby the government partners with private or other institutions and banks, and for every government shilling loaned out to a youth (or group), the financing partner puts a multiple match, for instance, at KCB, for every Shs 10,000 the government loans, KCB tops up 90,000 to make the loan Shs 100,000. Besides KCB, other partners to this Youth Fund include Equity Bank, which is 38% owned by the TransCentury Group, Family bank and others. As you see, Transcentury is therefore startegically placed as a major financing partner in the profitable business. But interest profits on loans is not the only thing TransCentury has been eyeing in the Youth Fund (YEDF). TransCentury has been using its political connections to FORCE another lucrative consultancy partnership with the YEDF to “train”, “mentor”, “coach”, and “network” these upcoming young entrepreneurs. Every Tom, Dick and Harry knows such language is used to veil the clearly anticipated THEFT of funds for poor youth. Certain folks simply use political connections to access the funds, thereby reducing available resources for lending to the poor youth TransCentury is joined by many other PNU government connected bureaucrats running all sorts of ‘consultancies’ and ‘NGOs’ purporting to seek funds for this so called ‘youth enterprise support’. In the process, they gobble up the little resource supposed to be loaned out to the youth. The TransCentury greed doesn’t end there. They have also partnered with a foreign NGO in Canada called Enablis Entreprenuerial Network, and joined the fray again, packaged in new clothing, purporting to offer matching funds for loans from the Fund. Enablis doesn't even need competitive bidding for financing, it is enjoying single-sourcing priviledges relayed through the Youth PS Murugu who also sits in the YEDF board. This is a classic case of how state-sponsored credit subsidy programmes remain open to manipulation by well-connected power brokers and lobbyists.Instead of poor youth investors being the biggest beneficiaries of subsidized loans, rich powerful players are the ones now cleverly capitalizing to cash billions. The deal with Enablis is so shady and full of conflicts of interest that under the agreement with YEDF, the money would be given to a new fund, the Enablis Loan Fund, to be run by a board of trustees whose chair will be James Gachui, Chairman of the Transcentury Group Ltd. Then this Enablis Loan Fund is to be managed by yet another entity- the Enablis Financial Corporation- for a fee. This Corporation is also a TransCentury owned entity. This is the slice-and-dice, duplicitous, costly arrangement that former Youth Enterprise Development Fund CEO Mr. Wario was rejecting. So far, the largest recipients of YEDF funds have been Equity Bank (which TransCentury owns a big chunk of), Kenya Commercial Bank, Family Finance Bank and the First Community Bank of Kenya, which offers Islamic banking. Other recipients include K-Rep Bank, Kenya Women Finance Trust and the Kenya Industrial Estates. Now here comes TransCentury again hiding behind a veil. TransCentury is now coming clothed under this Canadian NGO called Enablis Entreprenueral Network , in a deal first brokered through former State House operative and well-connected power broker and political lobbyist, the late Alex Mureithi, a nephew of President Kibaki. This Kibaki fella is so stone-faced and hard-eyed. This vulture-like NGO (read TransCentury partner) that PNU is bringing to attack the Youth Fund is so pampered that at its launch in Nairobi in 2007, Kibaki sent his former Minister for Youth, Mohammed Kuti. Yaani Kibaki is launching a subsidized Youth Fund, commiting government billions into it, then scheming his Transcentury sharks to loot from it. No wonder this fella thinks all Kenyans are Pumbavus.The YEDF CEO, Mr. Wario, was not willing to play Pumbavu. He deliberately challenged the PNU appointed YEDF Board that the matching being offered by this TransCentury-cum-Canadian-NGO was not as beneficial to the youth program as those offered by other Banks. In fact Wario realized this was an outright scam where the real beneficiaries would be TransCentury and the Canadian NGO, and NOT YEDF, nor the Kenyan youth. TransCentury quickly figured the best way to handle this problem was to fire Wario and impose a TransCentury puppet as CEO of the Youth Fund. Remember that the YEDF Board comprises ALL TransCentury/PNU puppets namely;MICHAEL KIRUTI – who is also a TransCentury Group lawyer, and Board member of the same Canadian company seeking YEDF funds (Enablis).
KINUTHIA MURUGU – PS Youth Affairs & Sports, a TransCentury imposed bureaucrat.
SAMUEL MACHARIA – another TransCentury lobbyist who doubles up as board member at Canadian company Enablis.
TURE BORU – PNU carpetbagger imposed by former PNU Youth Minister Kuti to ‘yes’ all TransCentury interests.
HELLEN TOMBO – puppet Chair of Board imposed by PNU to angle for TransCentury interests
RINA KARINA – another twenty something youth imposed by PNU into the board by the PS Murugu to prop TransCentury interests.
ABSHIRO HALAKE – another PNU patronage beneficiary imposed by Kuti to endorse TransCentury matters.
DAN AWENDO – another PNU patronage beneficiary planted by Raphael Tuju to angle for marketing and promotion contracts for Tuju’s firm besides supporting TransCentury interests.
SIMON SIMIYU – another PNU patronage beneficiary planted by Musikari Kombo to angle for supplies deals while saying ‘yes’ to TransCentury interests. People need to open their eyes and see this noble youth fund (YEDF) being invaded by TransCentury thugs. How can a Kenyan public Youth Enterprise Development Fund have its board granting a Sh300 million loan to a Canadian NGO called Enablis rather than local financial institutions spread across the entire country. People, people, people! Why not give it to KCB who will match it with Shs 3 billion in funds ready to be loaned out to the Youth? This is the same question Wario has been putting down to the YEDF board and they can’t answer. Then sample this. If the Canadian NGO (& TransCentury) are given Shs 300 million, they will only loan out Shs 600 million to the youth (matching ratio 1:1). If the same Shs 300 million is given to KCB, they would leverage financing and loan out Shs 3 billion (matching ratio 1:10). Even a fool knows which option to choose.This is the reason Umuru Wario is being fired my friends. TransCentury greed to loot Youth funds! TransCentury has decided it will forcefully use its political connections and power to get the loan for Enablis go through. The loan to Enablis will be the largest to be released to a single institution since the Youth Fund was established two years ago. In Kibaki’s Kenya, you get fired if you try to do the right thing. If you happen to be called Wario and is the CEO of YEDF, and you make the prudent decision that the opportunity cost of giving a massive loan to a Canadian-cum-TransCentury NGO called Enablis is just too high, you simply get fired. If you decide that there is a comparative advantage of YEDF dealing with local institutions because they have wide national branch networks accessible to Kenyan youth, then you get fired. Mr Wario also expressed fears that, considering that Enablis will just be extending loans to members of its own network – mainly urban-based entrepreneurs who have to pay a membership fee of Sh5,000 before joining – the money may not reach the Youth Fund’s target group. He is being victimized for this level-headed pragmatism. He is being fired because he did not respect TransCentury who is the real face behind Enablis. This story is reported in detail by Jaindi Kisero in an investigative story published in the Daily Nation, April 25th, 2009 edition.www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/590992/-/u64c8s/-/index.htmlsome excerpts from the report: The genesis of the deal is traced to a July 28, 2006 letter from the chair and CEO of Enablis and well-known Canadian entrepreneur, Charles Sirois, to President Kibaki. In the letter, Mr Sirois pledged to create an Enablis Loan Fund in Kenya to support entrepreneurship in the country.“If Kenya establishes a fund of $10 million, a matching $10 million will be introduced through Enablis,” the letter said, adding a provison that the promises would be subject to a feasibility study by the provider of the funds — the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)End of excerpts This is a big lesson about populist initiatives set up by well known greedy sharks. They don’t set them for the masses, but purely for their own minting.I am now more interested in seeing what PARLIAMENT, ODM Minister for Youth, the Prime Minister, Inspectorate of Corporations, and other non-PNU, non-Transcentury leaning, members of government, alongside KACC and other institutions do about this tragic comedy.
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Post by kamalet on Jun 25, 2009 9:37:13 GMT 3
Job,
I would not normally comment on such monstrous lies, but I think you have gone way over board in this post. You have not and cannot back up any of your allegations and this is in particular with reference to people whose names you drop liberally even when you are patently wrong.
Some of the people you mention, I know very well and are people above reproach and have given off their time to get the youth fund working. It is possible you are rooting for the defence of the sacked ex-CEO and I hold not fort for the fund's board, but I cannot imagine that one who presided over the signing of the Enablis deal as CEO can complain of the same deal and no gun was held over his head!
I find it very interesting that you can actually drag Transcentury into this deal without providing a single fact i.e. link showing how Transcentury OWNS 35% of EQUITY yet the structure of of the shareholding of Equity Bank is in the public domain including the top 10 shareholders, none of whom is Transcentury!
As for the names of the board members and their association with PNU or Transcentury, you outdo your self. Your closet tribalism is patently clear and it is interesting how you can match a tribal name with a tribal political leader!
I think Jukwaa deserves better and should not be used for such gutter allegations without proof!
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Post by merkeju on Jun 25, 2009 10:08:47 GMT 3
kamalet we know that money has been lost in that fund its a public knowledge and for you to accuse job for going into detail of who are responsible without telling us who you think should be held responsible does not do you any good,dont side with the corrupt side be on the people side and tell us who is behind the misappropriation of youth funds.
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Post by kamalet on Jun 25, 2009 11:23:37 GMT 3
kamalet we know that money has been lost in that fund its a public knowledge and for you to accuse job for going into detail of who are responsible without telling us who you think should be held responsible does not do you any good,dont side with the corrupt side be on the people side and tell us who is behind the misappropriation of youth funds. As I said, I do not hold fort for the fund's board. But I do not think that the repetition of untruths actually makes it the truth. I can only imagine you claim "you know" because you read about the "loss" of funds in the standard. You are at liberty to believe what you are told by the media, but I would also suggest that you should have listened to the rebuttal of the fund chairman. The allegation that 1 billion shillings had been lost was certainly wrong considering that the government advanced the same amount. But since you would much prefer to believe the rubbish from Job, perhaps you might want to know that one of the Directors of the fund, SAMUEL MACHARIA – another TransCentury lobbyist who doubles up as board member at Canadian company Enablis. - described by Job is actually the representative of the PS Treasury and is a civil servant! That is what I meant when I said Job's posting is replete with lies, and I could go on to show how. |
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Post by job on Jun 25, 2009 18:15:03 GMT 3
Job, I would not normally comment on such monstrous lies, but I think you have gone way over board in this post. You have not and cannot back up any of your allegations and this is in particular with reference to people whose names you drop liberally even when you are patently wrong. Some of the people you mention, I know very well and are people above reproach and have given off their time to get the youth fund working. It is possible you are rooting for the defence of the sacked ex-CEO and I hold not fort for the fund's board, but I cannot imagine that one who presided over the signing of the Enablis deal as CEO can complain of the same deal and no gun was held over his head! I find it very interesting that you can actually drag Transcentury into this deal without providing a single fact i.e. link showing how Transcentury OWNS 35% of EQUITY yet the structure of of the shareholding of Equity Bank is in the public domain including the top 10 shareholders, none of whom is Transcentury! As for the names of the board members and their association with PNU or Transcentury, you outdo your self. Your closet tribalism is patently clear and it is interesting how you can match a tribal name with a tribal political leader! I think Jukwaa deserves better and should not be used for such gutter allegations without proof! Absolute nonsense! This habit of jumping to defend the indefensible simply because the thieves belong to your tribe, or you know one of the board members does not wash with anyone. Who told you the board member you claim is 'above reproach' was not planted to safeguard TransCentury interests? Second, never ever assume that calling theft what it is can be rebuffed by accusations of tribalism. That's the most ridiculous balogni peddled by your likes. I have clearly pasted the details of this mega corruption & how the CEO Umuru was fired which was written by Daily Nation's Jaindi Kisero - I'm sure in your knee jerk reaction you never bothered to read it. Here it is again; www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/590992/-/u64c8s/-/index.htmlThen read also the Standard's own catalogue of theft of the Youth Funds by companies connected to Kibaki's friends and PNU acolytes; www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144017702&cid=4So just what is it that you are defending? In Githongo's book "It's our turn to eat", he chronicles patent cases where SOME Kibaki's tribesmates actually believe Kibaki's tenure was a golden opportunity for them to loot any public funds available. The Youth Funds have not been spared from that as we can all see - despite Kamale's futile and silly attempts to deny these obvious FACTS. Kamale claims; Has the audit of the Youth Funds revealed irregularities? You know the answer is yes - read the Standard report. Knowing people well does not mean you know an iota of what rests in their souls or minds. I thought this was obvious and quite basic. Even your own kid sitting in that board can be party to irregular deals whether you think they are beyond reproach or not. It is not up to you to tell us those fellas are saints, when we can clearly see the outcome of their 'saintly' deeds in the board. Kamale says; I do not know him and have no reason to defend him. But I see al ot of sense in his objection to the contract he was coerced to sign. I actually see the connection between his firing and his differences with the board over the bogus Enablis deal. Read the Jaindi Kisero report below; www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/590992/-/u64c8s/-/index.htmlKamale blurts; If only you read the chronicled sequence of events surrounding the deal, well laid out by Kisero, you will quickly see that the CEO himself said he was OVER RULED by the board (it is boards which make key decisions such as these). But the board was definitely not happy with the CEO for expressing opposition to the Enablis deal he was eventually forced to sign. Then what happens next? The CEO is fired. Then he spills the beans, then the Enablis deal is cancelled and a government audit requested. Be your own judge. Kamale says; Kamale, are you serious - is it me dragging TransCentury into this deal? I can see your total ignorance on this matter now.Please read the Daily nation report by one of its top business editors Jaindi Kisero. He clearly mentions that TransCentury Group Chairman James Gichui also doubles up as a global Director of Enablis.But in case you have your doubts, have the liberty to visit Enablis website; www.enablis.org/Default.aspx?TabID=39You will clearly see that the Canadian NGO Enablis has three global directors who are; • Charles Sirois (Chair) Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Telesystems Ltd Canada. This is the friend to the late Alex Muriithi, Kibaki's nephew - the initial wheeler dealer of this deal.• William Morris Managing Director, Accenture Canada • James Gachui Chairman, Transcentury Ltd, Jimana Ltd KenyaThen you may also notice that Enablis lawyer in Kenya, as reported by Kisero, also sits in the same Kenya Youth Enterprise Development Fund board, where they forced a contract. Yet another Enablis board member, also sits in the Youth Fund board.
We can safely say that the Kenyan Youth Fund board has been invaded by board members of Canadian-cum-TransCentury NGO Enablis. Who is therefore surprised if Youth Funds are now being diverted to the disposal of Enablis?By the way, other Enablis board members from East Africa include; • Carol Musyoka, Director, Bungani Limited • Paul Lamontagne (Canada) Chief Executive Officer, Enablis Africa • Louis Otieno, General Manager Microsoft East and Central Africa • Maheboob Alibhai, Chairman, Phoenix Assurance • Moses Mwaura, Regional Director, Enablis East Africa • Rina Karina, Hicks Financial Analyst, Faida Securities (DID YOU JUST NOTICE THIS twenty-something young girl also sits in Kenya's Youth Fund Board)• Rosemary Mutunkei, Director, Works of Faith Ltd and Member, Seri Yetu Ltd So forget it Kamale - if you can't see in Kenya's Youth Funds board, the heavy presence of Enablis and TransCentury, then that's upto you to deny - I see more of looting intentions than even the tribal charges you claim. You as Kamale need to smell the obvious conflicts of interests and TransCentury's and Enablis' open raid on Kenya's limited Youth Funds. These greedy TransCentury/Enablis thugs need the matching funds (shs 300 million) to do their own business and deny Kenyan youth real leveraged loans that will cover more youngsters - as I explained in my article above. KCB can do a much much better job in accessing the Youth funds then availing more to benefit our unemployed youth. This is not the typre of initiative or fund for TransCentury billionaires and Canadian foreigners to salivate at.Then when it comes to TransCentury's ownership of Equity Bank that you also raise; Majority ownership can be guised under different subsidiaries, I hope you know that basic strategy of dominating ownership of a company in a concealed manner. Besides the fact that Transcentury holds a direct stake in Equity bank, it also holds a stake through Britak which in turn has a large shareholding of Equity Bank. Transcentury also bought the maximum stake allowable for one shareholder of a bank in Kenya (24.9%) though their holding in Helios EB Partners. Helios Partners is a foreign incorporated company that partnered with a local investor in Kenya in the form of Transcentury and more than half the money invested by Transcentury ($300M = Ksh 19.5B) came in to increase the capital of Equity Bank (This amount was approx Ksh 11B) when it occured 3 yrs ago.The then Finance Minster, Kimunya, decided to look the other side as this transaction happened right under his nose. He even gave this group (Helios Partners) the exception from any scrutiny of who the shareholders are for 9 years. The reason Kimunya did that was obviously to hide the fact that the 'foreign investment' is actually local investors called TransCentury who have obviously violated the max. Shareholding rules for banks. (remember there's a restriction of how much one entity can own).Kamale, folks know these clever activities by TransCentury, surviving only because financial regulations and the Finance Minister is always held by a TransCentury endorsed person (Mwiraria, Michuki, Kimunya, Uhuru)…Here's the ownership details (concealed to most of you) in a nutshell; • Maximum Shareholding allowable to a shareholder who is not an executive = 24.9% • Equity bank holding through Britak = 10% • Equity Bank holding as Transcentury directly = aprox 3+% * Equity Bank holding at Helios Partners = 24.9% Clearly, Transcentury now holds more that 38% of Equity Bank! Proof of this available on: transcentury.co.ke/transcentury/portfolio.asp"target="_blank">http://www.transcentury.co.ke/transcentury/portfolio.asp Kamale, Kenyans are watching what goes on very meticulously. Then you say; You need to simply grow up. I know Mr Awendo, I know he was appointed by his tribesmate Tuju. Former Youth Minister not only appointed another of his tribesmate, but actually his own cousin into the same board. Kombo appointed his former colleague and tribesmate Simiyu into the board. Murugu was appointed by virtue of being PS and proposed another of his tribesmates into the same board. Tell me who is the tribalist, someone calling this obvious trend out, or the very silly idiots making the appointments? Get your thought processes straight. The core binding philosophy of this board was that it was to endorse deals such as the Enablis one without questions(questions such as those raised by Umuru). It is essentially a puppet board representing TransCentury & PNU interests as I have given you detailed FACTUAL examples and links above. Prove me wrong, with facts. It is such board puppets that fuel the corruption fire consuming the country. And you can now see, the bug has hit the Youth Funds. Funds intended for unemployed youth is ending up in pockets of TransCentury billionaires. It's a looting galore, primitive accumulation of state largesse - and as Githongo says, to some - "It's our turn to eat". |
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Post by politicalmaniac on Jun 25, 2009 22:11:24 GMT 3
The insatiable appetite for public monies displayed by the mt kenya mafia and their accolytes needs no introduction.
They eat mpaka they eat some more.
Hawatosheki hawa jamaa.
Thank you Job for exposing these mofas.
I am glad some of us call it as it is, and dont defend the indefensible.
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Post by job on Jun 30, 2009 21:48:20 GMT 3
COURTESY MARS GROUP blog.marsgroupkenya.org/?p=945A FISH ROTS FROM ITS HEAD - CRONY CAPITALISM EXPOSED AT THE KENYA YOUTH ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT FUND
Jun 27th, 2009 by Mars Group Kenya “A fish rots from the head … down” Crony Capitalism at the Kenya Youth Enterprise Development FundA Mars Group Kenya / Youth Interactive Portal for Enterprise Report for The Partnership for Change ; From Dictatorial Impunity to Democratic Accountability in Kenya June 27th 2009. Background to the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF)The Youth Enterprise Development fund was launched in 2007 by President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya with a starting disbursement of KShs1 billion for the kitty. The fund was also established by a legal notice under the State Corporations Act 2007 in the name of the “Youth Enterprise Development Fund Order 2007. The initiative was founded as a vehicle to address the rising youth unemployment in the country, as well as provide youth entrepreneurs with capital for business startup and growth. The Fund became a state corporation later in 2007, autonomous from its parent ministry of Youth & Sports Affairs (MOYA). Today the Youth Enterprise Development Fund is mired in controversy, driven partly by its politically tinged history; having been created three years into Kibaki’s first term, and two years before the December 2007 election. 2. Breaking the storyOn June 23rd 2009, the East African Standard published an article by Kenneth Kwama outlining a litany of accusations of financial mismanagement and impropriety at the Youth Fund. The Fund in turn through its Chairperson, Ms. Hellen Tombo accused the Standard of being used in political machinations, and looking for corruption where none exists. The basis of the East African Standard story was a management letter by the Kenya National Audit Office (KNAO) dated 28th November 2008 to the Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. It is not known what was the response if any there has been to this letter but the letter contains detailed audit queries which indicate significant managerial problems at this important national fund. This matter is one of urgent national importance bearing in mind Agenda 4 of the National Accord.Though the MOYA confirmed it received an investigation report from the Inspectorate of State Corporations, they denied having lost any money. Minister Hellen Sambili said the Inspectorate’s report makes several recommendations to strengthen the governance structures of the Youth Enterprise Fund but makes no mention of “anything about the disappearance of money”. On June 26th 2009, the MOYA published a paid advertisement in the Daily Nation reiterating the same. Since the Youth Fund’s press briefing, no other media mentions have emerged regarding their response on the discrepancies outlined in the Kenya National Audit Office management letter to the Youth Fund. 3. Questions regarding the findings of the Kenya National Audit dated 28th November 2008 to the Youth Enterprise Development Fund as well as various corporate governance matters arising from the conduct of the Youth Fund from its inception to date.3.1. Locus standi of the Partnership for Change (P4C) The Partnership for Change (P4C) is an open initiative of the Mars Group and other like-minded organisations, civil society agencies, NGO’s, youth groups, faith based organisations, social movements and grass-roots organisations and networks from all eight provinces in Kenya. The P4C’s mission is to advance the strategic use of non-violent action in calling upon the Kenyan Citizen to demand an End to Impunity, Restoration of Democratic Accountability and an end to Dictatorship in Kenya. The Partnership currently has an established network of 179,000 change agents spread out throughout the country’s 210 electoral constituencies. The network is also composed of by a significant proportion of youth members, many of whom engage in income generating activities, either as individual entrepreneurs or in groups. Thus the Partnership for Change is invoking its right as a representative of its youth membership to through this report pose questions to the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) as well as its parent Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. This is what accountability is about. 3.2 Why this issue is importantWhen the Youth Fund management was confronted with questions regarding the financial letter from the Kenya National Audit Office, instead of answering the queries they only politicised the issue. Further to that the public statement carried in the Daily Nation of Friday 26th 2009, do not in anyway answer the auditors question regarding its financial management. The Youth Fund in this year’s Budget is set to receive a substantial amount of money from the Exchequer. Therefore, before they receive the Funds, it is imperative that they satisfy the Kenyan public and in particular its youth who form the majority of Kenya’s citizenry that it has rectified these discrepancies, and addressed all the management issues raised in the letter by the KNAO. Principles of accountability and transparency demand that it is the role of the Government of Kenya and its public officers to answer questions posed by the citizenry they serve. To politicize issues is an act of the impunity that has allowed scandals of loss of billions of Kenya shillings to occur. Kenyan’s will remember cases such as scandals of financial impropriety that cost the Exchequer huge losses, for instance the country’s National Social Security Fund. Though the figures listed below may well be small as opposed to other scandals such as Anglo-leasing and Goldenberg, which almost crippled Kenya’s economic security, the Partnership for Change contends that it is impropriety regarding trusteeship of small sums of money that ultimately end up exploding into scandals in the range of billions. Furthermore, when the media raises issues in the public interest, duty bearers in public office are best advised to RESPOND to the issues being raised; not just to dismiss every question on accountability to mere politics. This is the era of accountability and the Partnership for Change will demand nothing short of answers when such queries are raised by the media and citizenry. To avert this, the Partnership for Change on behalf of its membership is thus posing 10 questions with the ultimate objective of not having to witness another scandal later on, if it emerges that the Youth Fund was indeed losing much needed money. The Partnership for Change is grateful to the media when it acts in the public interest by playing its role as a public watchdog. Question # 1: What are the circumstances surrounding the Kenya Pipeline Corporation’s Kshs. 50 million shillings grant to the Youth Enterprise Development Fund?From media reports, the Partnership for Change understands that the Kenya Pipeline Corporation donated Kshs. 50 million as its contribution to the Youth Fund’s startup kitty of Kshs. 1 billion. It has been alleged that these Funds were for the Chora Bizna Business Plan Competition. The Partnership for Change is asking for what purpose was this? See Figure 1 (on Mars Website- the blog link above): Media report on YEDF Launch containing information on Kenya Pipeline’s shs. 50 million Contribution Question #2: Why was the account balance of Silver Ray, an overseas job placements company overstated in the KNAO audit as at 30th June 2008?Amongst its programmes, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund has a relocation programme for placing Kenyans with jobs. Silver Ray a local recruitment company was contracted to implement this programme. They are also the sole listed agent to provide relocation loans. However, the Kenya National Audit Office found that as at June 30th 2008, the Silver Ray account with the Youth Fund was overstated by Kshs. 2 million. Why was this overstated?See Figure 2: Silver Ray’s website See Figure 3: YEDF website showing Silver Ray as the sole listed agent for relocation loans Question #3: Why was Apex Consulting Africa Limited single sourced for YEDF staff recruitment?According to the KNAO letter, Apex Consulting was single sourced and paid a total of Kshs. 490,000. This of course is contrary to the Kenya Government Public Procurement Act which states that approval must first be sought before entering into any single-sourced contractual obligation. The Partnership for Change is thus querying this transaction, asking if these staff members were so urgently required? Question #4: What is the Enablis/YEDF partnership about?According to media reports, the immediate former CEO of the Fund Umuro Wario was terminated due to reasons that included the single-sourcing of Enablis East Africa, an entrepreneur network that had links to President Kibaki’s nephew the late Alex Mureithi. The international network (Enablis Global) is headed by social entrepreneur and philanthropist Charles Sirois. From the Enablis website, the Partnership for Change found the following information on the network: Enablis Entrepreneurial Network is an organized, interactive network of entrepreneurs in developing countries who share similar values and who believe in the importance of small-to-medium enterprises for poverty reduction and sustainable development.
The result is a group of individuals drawn together by their capacity for entrepreneurship; a powerful force for change in the developing world.
Enablis entrepreneurs are specially selected, formally accredited, and endowed with a code of conduct and set of values that form the foundation of Enablis – Respect, Integrity, Professionalism, and Sustainability....continue at the Mars Group website - link provided above...
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Post by kamalet on Jul 1, 2009 15:57:29 GMT 3
I can see the busy bodies of Mars and this other think called partnership for change ( note the elaborate way they have tried to justify themselves when it should have just been the two fellows in Mars!!!) have now got into the fray on the Youth Fund!
Perhaps they behave like many uneducated people in the small matter of audit management letters. The KNAO undertook an audit and was presented with all sorts of information to support the financial statements presented by the YF board for audit. The KNAO did not get all the information and it is in the management letter that auditors ask for clarification on anything thing they saw that was unsupported. That is what they have asked for in the management letter. The busiy-bodies in Mars are now demanding that in responding to the KNAO, the board of the YF should also provide them with the answers as well as to the issues raised!
Good manners and a little education would surely have helped these busy bodies know that once the answers are given to the KNAO by the board, the Controller and Auditor General will issue his certificate either passing or qualifying the accounts. The Minister for Youth Affairs is required then to lay these accounts before parliament as per Section 11(9) of the Order establishing the Fund. At this time, these busy bodies can come out and shout as much as the want as to the pilferage and 'eating' of Youth Fund money by the board. That this stage has not been reached is sufficiently telling how idle these fellows are!!!
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Post by job on Nov 11, 2009 3:47:05 GMT 3
I can see the busy bodies of Mars and this other think called partnership for change ( note the elaborate way they have tried to justify themselves when it should have just been the two fellows in Mars!!!) have now got into the fray on the Youth Fund! Perhaps they behave like many uneducated people in the small matter of audit management letters. The KNAO undertook an audit and was presented with all sorts of information to support the financial statements presented by the YF board for audit. The KNAO did not get all the information and it is in the management letter that auditors ask for clarification on anything thing they saw that was unsupported. That is what they have asked for in the management letter. The busiy-bodies in Mars are now demanding that in responding to the KNAO, the board of the YF should also provide them with the answers as well as to the issues raised! Good manners and a little education would surely have helped these busy bodies know that once the answers are given to the KNAO by the board, the Controller and Auditor General will issue his certificate either passing or qualifying the accounts. The Minister for Youth Affairs is required then to lay these accounts before parliament as per Section 11(9) of the Order establishing the Fund. At this time, these busy bodies can come out and shout as much as the want as to the pilferage and 'eating' of Youth Fund money by the board. That this stage has not been reached is sufficiently telling how idle these fellows are!!! OK, here comes the Minister... www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/684658/-/xt3i1qz/-/index.html |
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Post by kamalet on Nov 11, 2009 20:33:53 GMT 3
Job, Thank you for baiting me. I am not currently in Kenya but I can tell you a few things that sadly are facts that you may not be seized of. The first thing is that Wario was initially sacked vide a letter from Sambili. The Inspectorate of State Corporations (ICS) advised the minister that she could not have done this as per the law, she was not the appointing authority and could have led to the board being sued by Wario - as happened in the case of James Kimonye when the minister for livestock puported to sack him as managing commissioner of Kenya Meat Commission. It is under these circumstances that the chairman of the fund's board wrote to the CEO terminating his employment - note in this case I am not talking about the allegations against the CEO. After the board sacked the CEO, they were requested to advertise for the job of CEO and at the time of the saga of his reinstatement by the minister (illegal for all intents and purposes!), the board had prepared 3 names for presentation to the minister so that she could approve one person for confirmation as CEO. I am sometimes surprised at the selective nature in which some of you believe the media - when it is convenient and can be used to get to the other side, and curse the same institutions when the fight your corner. In your original posting, you were all over this forum screaming fraud by Enablis - one of the excuses Wario has constantly claimed he was sacked for - without even checking what they do apart from nit-picking on the respective tribes of the local board members andthen making wild claims about them. www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=1144028187&cid=4& The Canadian agency says the wrangles in the board could lead to loss of 50 million shillings committed to the fund through Enablis - but according to you this was just a thieving scheme! If you think you know about the fund saga, please place facts on the table and we can then agree - but it is shameless and silly to peddle rumour and lies. |
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Post by job on Nov 12, 2009 3:46:05 GMT 3
Kamale,I agree on one thing - it is shameless and silly to peddle lies and rumours - which is exactly what you are trying to do here. Sambili's mishandling of this Wario matter doesn't reverse the fact that the Enablis deal being poushed by the YEDF board is irregular. Wario was fired on allegations of corruption by the board, but he was cleared of ANY corruption by KACC and that is exactly why Sambili reinstated him. Wario's side of the story was that he got fired for questioning the rationale of the board trying to force the Enablis deal when there were better deals through local banks. He pointed to a glaring conflict of interest since some YEDF board members were also Enablis board members. What he got in return was a letter of termination (initially mishandled by Sambili)...but the fact remains that he is clean and is only being pushed aside by Trans Century barons trying to direct youth funds into their hands, alongside Enablis partners. This is essentially corporate warfare between local clientilists (YEDF board) representing Canadian interests, and local banks also interested in partnering with YEDF (who have now rallied behind Wario and Sambili). I can tell you that theboard has a very limited time in existence and a new board will have to be appointed very soon....ALL EYES WILL BE ON THAT PROCESS. The Minister decided to reject the board recommendations and reappoint the former CEO altogether since KACC cleared him of the allegations made by the board in the first place, end of story!The media is not my sole source of info on this matter, I even have correspondence forwarded from CIDA and other Canadian and interested local parties... just for full disclosure, I am very interested in this matter both directly and indirectly.Your ignorance is now proving to be legendary, the Canadia deal is what will lead to loss of more than 50 million shillings - open your eyes. I even posted Enablis websites above in this very thread, which I'm sure you didn't bother to check. You just jumped in like a headless chicken. I even demonstrated to you how CIDA's money will be gobbled up between Enablis and Trans Century barons (via subsidiaries aka 'consultancies' set up specifically to administer the same funds). Furthermore, CIDA's 50 million shillings is only being matched on a 1:1 ratio, then worse, most of it looted by the Canadian and Trans Century profiteers, with our youth ending with only paltry sums...you can't even compare this shoddy arrangement with what Equity bank or KCB will match to the same funds (much much higher ratios)....our youth will benefit only if they partner with local banks and foreign entities with better matching ratios, and also those not interested in side 'consultancies' bilking the same funds earmarked for youth.MUCH OBLIGED - JUST REREAD MY POSTS UP THIS THREAD. Check out my postings on the Enablis website above and see their board members, then check it against YEDF board and see the glaring conflicts of interest. In case you are allergic to reading old posts, then be my guest. I have clearly pasted the details of this mega corruption & how the CEO Umuru was fired which was well chronicled by Daily Nation's Jaindi Kisero - I'm sure in your knee jerk reaction you never bothered to read it. Here it is again; www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/590992/-/u64c8s/-/index.htmlThen read also the Standard's own catalogue of theft of the Youth Funds by companies connected to Kibaki's friends and PNU acolytes; www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144017702&cid=4So just what is it that you are defending? In Githongo's book "It's our turn to eat", he chronicles patent cases where SOME Kibaki's tribesmates actually believe Kibaki's tenure was a golden opportunity for them to loot any public funds available. The Youth Funds have not been spared from that as we can all see - despite Kamale's futile and silly attempts to deny these obvious FACTS. Read this report below to see how vicous Wario was being hounded out of office for simply trying to protect youth funds; www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/590992/-/u64c8s/-/index.htmlIf only you read the sequence of events surrounding the Enablis deal, well laid out by Kisero, you will quickly see that the CEO himself said he was OVER RULED by the YEDF board (comprising Enablis insiders). The board was definitely not happy with Wario for expressing opposition to the shady Enablis deal. FACT: TransCentury Group Chairman James Gichui also doubles up as a global Director of Enablis.In case you have your doubts, have the liberty to visit Enablis website; www.enablis.org/Default.aspx?TabID=39You will clearly see that the Canadian NGO Enablis has three global directors who are; • Charles Sirois (Chair) Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Telesystems Ltd Canada. This is the friend to the late Alex Muriithi, Kibaki's nephew - the initial wheeler dealer of this deal. • William Morris Managing Director, Accenture Canada • James Gachui Chairman, Transcentury Ltd, Jimana Ltd KenyaThen you may also notice that Enablis lawyer in Kenya also sits in the same Kenya YEDF board. Even Hellen Tombo is an interested party in Enablis. We can safely say that the YEDF board has been invaded by board members of Canadian-cum-TransCentury NGO Enablis. Who is therefore surprised if Youth Funds are now being diverted to the disposal of Enablis? By the way, other Enablis board members from East Africa include; • Carol Musyoka, Director, Bungani Limited • Paul Lamontagne (Canada) Chief Executive Officer, Enablis Africa • Louis Otieno, General Manager Microsoft East and Central Africa • Maheboob Alibhai, Chairman, Phoenix Assurance • Moses Mwaura, Regional Director, Enablis East Africa • Rina Karina, Hicks Financial Analyst, Faida Securities (DID YOU JUST NOTICE THIS twenty-something young girl also sits in Kenya's Youth Fund Board) • Rosemary Mutunkei, Director, Works of Faith Ltd and Member, Seri Yetu Ltd So forget it Kamale - if you can't see in Kenya's Youth Funds board, the heavy presence of Enablis and TransCentury, then that's upto you to deny. You as Kamale need to smell the obvious conflicts of interests and TransCentury's and Enablis' open raid on Kenya's limited Youth Funds. It is such board puppets that fuel the corruption fire consuming the country. And you can now see, the bug has hit the Youth Funds.
Funds intended for unemployed youth are under threat from Canadians and TransCentury billionaires.
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Post by job on Nov 12, 2009 8:27:08 GMT 3
Haya bwana Kamale,Sambili said she'll play hardball and expose these board pretenders. Here's Daily Nation. Shs 300 million twist in Youth Fund Crisis
By OLIVER MATHENGEPosted Wednesday, November 11 2009 at 22:00
In Summary
Managers stood up to board over bid to lend Canadian NGO cash, sparking war of words
Two members of the youth fund board are linked to a Canadian NGO that was to receive a Sh300 million loan from the fund.
Ms Rina Karina, a director of Faida Investments, has been a director of Enablis East Africa since 2007.
The other is Ms Abshiro Halake, who is also a trade commissioner at the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi.
The Canadian International Development Agency (Cida) funded Enablis East Africa.
The Sh300 million loan deal could be at the centre of the battle for control of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.
While the board, chaired by Ms Helen Tombo was determined to have the deal signed, the fund’s CEO Umuro Wario was opposed to it.
The Daily Nation reported in April how documents it had obtained showed how the loan to Enablis was approved against the backdrop of intrigues, pitting the board against the management.
This eventually led to the sending on compulsory leave of three top managers, including Mr Wario, followed by the exit of several other management staff.
The board later in May, through a memo to employees at the fund, announced that Mr Wario had been sacked, only for him to be reinstated by Youth and Sports minister Helen Sambili two weeks ago.
Documents obtained by the Daily Nation show how the CEO made several attempts to block the Enablis transaction, insisting that due diligence and public procurement regulations needed to be followed.
Walk out
The board members’ term comes to an end next month and there are indications that their contracts will not be renewed. The minister appoints the board members while the President appoints the chairperson.
Cida is now threatening to walk out of the deal if the crisis is not resolved by end of December. Under the agreement with Enablis, the Sh300 million loan would be provided for a four-year period. The loan will be the largest since the Youth Fund was established two years ago.
Until now, the largest recipients of funds have been some local banks [/i].[/blockquote][/color] |
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