Kenya Stockholm Blog

Jailed Kenyan Wants His Money Paid By Ambassador Purity

A Kenyan currently serving a five year prison term in a Swedish jail has requested the Kenyan Ambassador to Scandinavia Mrs Purity Muhindi to pay him his dues in salary dues for work done on behalf of the Embassy in 2006.

The Kenyan was convicted on sex related offences and through his brother resident in Stockholm, he has requested that the embassy sort out payment of 10.000 kr (about Ksh 100,000) for work done at the residence of the late Kenyan Diplomat Mr. James Kiboi before the diplomat died in a house inferno in Norway in September 2006.

The Kenyan was the official gardener at the residence of Ambassador Purity who sacked him from his job a few days before a scandal in which the Embassy had fraudulently sold land to a neighbor blew out.

Although he was being paid a monthly salary for working at the Residence, the Kenyan said from his prison cell that work he did at Kiboi’s residence was outside his official duties and that in the summer of 2006, he used to work until 11 or 12 O’clock in the night after receiving instructions from Kiboi.

The work was related to clearing bushes around Kiboi’s residence which was so thick that, according to the Kenyan, Kiboi’s neighbors had began to complain. The neigbours told him when he started work at the residence that they were relieved that at long last, the bushes were being cleared and even borrowed him bush-cutting equipoment when they noticed that he was ill equipped.

The Kenyan said that Mrs Catherine Kiboi, widow of the late Kiboi, should be able to corroborate his story especially on the working hours. The Kenyan said that he was a government officer (albeit a subordinate staff member) and that at the Kenyan Embassy, any work done after 17 hrs is regarded as extra because there is no night shift at the Embassy.

The Kenyan’s brother, who visited him in jail, told KSB that his brother needs money to help his family in Kenya which is undergoing serious economic difficulties, arguing that the 10,000 kr the Embassy is holding would be of great difference in the situation. He said that he had personally intervened economically to try and address the crisis and hoped that the long standing dispute would be sorted out once and for all.

The jailed Kenyan is a member of ODM Scandinavia but when the Party took contact with the Embassy last year and requested in writing that the Kenyan be paid his dues, a female Embassy official communicated to say that the Embassy is not in a position to settle the bill because work done by the Kenyan at Kiboi’s residence was under his normal official duties. What she did not explain is why the Kenyan was working at Kiboi’s residence after normal working hours.

The Kenyan said that by the time Kiboi died, he had completed work at his residence and that Kiboi had booked an appointment with him at the Embassy on a Monday to sort out the payment because it was urgent. Unfortunately, Kiboi died on a Thursday, ahead of the appointment which, the Kenya said, was expected to discuss work he had done and to facilitate payment through the Treasurer Mr. Cheruiyot. The Kenyan said that the Embassy later claimed that they did not know anything about the deal.

According to the ex-gardener, he had to work at Kiboi’s residence late in the night because during day time, he was working at the Ambassador’s residence. He was employed by former Ambassador Mukiri Kinyanjui who handed over power at the Embassy to Ambassador Purity soon after she was posted at the Embassy through the influence of First lady Lucy Kibaki, a close friend of hers.

After the Kenyan was sacked from his job, the Ambassador engaged a Swedish firm to take over his duties. There was no explanation as to why the Kenyan was fired or why a company was hired to replace him.

ODM Scandinavia intends to officially take up the matter once again with the Embassy to explore if any progress could be made in getting the Kenyan paid up.

Okoth Osewe

March 5, 2008 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment