Dear Kenyans, I want to take this opportunity to thank everybody who attended our cultural event in Märsta on 4th September, 2010. We had a wonderful time and everything went as planned. Even though Atommy did arrive, there were a number of Artists who entertained the audience.
I want to thank everybody who took the initiative to help with transport and other arrangements to make the occasion a success. I also want to thank the Members of Maendeleo Ya Wanawake who prepared the food and even served during the Event and those who bank rolled. It was most satisfying to hear children comment “det var roligt”.
I also want to thank the Artists who performed on that occasion, The Rwandese Traditional Dancers who graced the occasion, Taabuu Drum Group, Kazala Musica who played live music and the DJs Jimmy and Richie. Everything was fantastic and I hope we will have another wonderful event in the future. All the Artists and DJs were all paid on the same day.
Atommy did not come because he missed the plane and as his Visa was expiring that same night, he did not want to risk leaving Germany because he could have had problem with the Swedish authorities. Unfortunately, this information was given to us very late at night by his Manager in Germany. Any inconvenience is highly regretted.
The money in question was given to organise the Cultural Event which took place on 4th September was only 15.000Kr. The Spokesman of the organisation applied to the Kommun for this assistance and was granted. The Secretary and her group has accused the Spokesman to applying for funds and putting it in the organisation’s account. The Constitution of the Organisation allows any member to do so. For security reasons, the Spokesman removed the Signatories who had left the organisation and as the Treasurer refused to give her specimen signature, another member was approached to be a signatory. The old signatories had swindled the organisation after which they suggested that the Account be closed. The Account has been empty for the last three years until June 2010 when the Spokesman put the money into it to organise the Cultural Event.
The Secretary was surprised to see a Bank Statement for the Organisation showing that there was once again money in the Account. She immediately alerted the old Signatories. The Committee reported the matter to the Police because the old Signatories did not hav access to the money. The Committee was bitter. The decision to report the matter to he Police was made at a meeting of four members,. The four members of the organisation agreed that the Secretary should call the Police to freeze the account, now that they did not have access to the funds.
The Cultural Event mentioned early has already taken place, and the Spokesman is now busy writing the Report to the Kommun that gave the money for the event, while the Committee is still fighting to block the money in the account.
In the absence of the proper order in the organisation the Chairperson has the responsibility to bring the Organisation in line. But the Secretary and three other people in the organisation took the matter to the Police without consulting the rest of the group.
IN SHORT, THE PERSON WHO PUT THE MONEY INTO THE ACCOUNT IS THE ONE WHO REMOVED THE SIGNATORIES WHO HAD ALREADY SWINDLED THE ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY REASONS. The Secretary said the rest of the Committee members were bitter, that is why the Committee reported the matter to the Police. We do not bring bitterness in Organisations.
As at now the Mission of holding the Cultural Event is accomplished successfully.
I appeal for the members of our community to unite together and stop hatred campaigns as this do not bring development. It is embarrassing for us to come all the way from African to fight one another in this far country.
Thank you for your time.
Kind regards.
Spokesperson
Kenya Maendeleo Ya Wanawake
KSB: The writer has not given her name and for legal reasons the post has been edited to remove names of people menstioned adversely. The writer should have been brave enough to give her name when naming other people and making allegations of all sorts. KSB will continue to encourage healthy debate on the subject.
About the Author
I have just read the Spokesperson’s version of events at Märsta and the mere fact that she has not included her name reduces the Statement’s validity and authority. When you claim to be the Spokesperson of an organization and you are commenting on a developing scandal, it is paramount that you have a face the public can associate you with.
I have to congratulate Bwana Osewe for removing names of innocent people who may have been mentioned by this ghost Spokesperson. How do you expect the public to believe your version when you mention names and leave out your own? If you are out to tell the truth, why hide behind a screen and who are you representing?
I had a lot of hopes that a new angle could be given to this story but thrashed everything in the bin when I came to the end of your version. Those who froze the bank account may have done the right thing because if I may have my say, you sound as useless as a church mouse. I hope that this case will go to court so that you can be made to pay for your stupidity.
“Atommy did not come because he missed the plane and as his Visa was expiring that same night, he did not want to risk leaving Germany because he could have had problem with the Swedish authorities”.
…he did not want to risk leaving Germany… which means he missed the plane intentionally yet we have been told by the drunkard woman how he desperately tried to fly. This is just another piece of hog-wash. Wakenya, tuamkeni jamani. Why are some people trying to cheat the community as though we are a bunch of illiterate kids?
This is the most bogus defence I have read at KSB in many years. Who is this person? I suspect this could be a man posing as a women’s spokesperson to fuel the story. It does not sound real at all. This is just my opinion.
IN SHORT, THE PERSON WHO PUT THE MONEY INTO THE ACCOUNT IS THE ONE WHO REMOVED THE SIGNATORIES WHO HAD ALREADY SWINDLED THE ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY REASONS…
Well, it’s this one which caught my attention. The first thing is that money was actually removed from the account illegally because this is a confirmation that signatories were actually changed. Secondly, the faceless Spokesperson is telling us that since she got the money in, she had the sole right to change signatories to gain access to the money, right.
It is the same as saying that when the Minister of Finance negotiates a deal of 10 Million USD on behalf of the government, the Minister has the right to decide who signs out the money, can change signatories to the treasury and decide how this money is being Spent. I hope the police investigating the case is reading this. I can now understand why this Spokesperson is faceless because simply put, she is a thief who does not want to show her face. Some things are now beginning to fall into place. Thanks for this one.
What a preposterous response from this Maendeleo spokesperson. It reeks of doublespeak, making KSB readers query Osewe’s first article on the matter. Why would the spokesperson for a registered organization remain anonymous?
The reply from the tall drunk woman claimed Atommy had to sort out his visa, although his real failure to travel was due to an overbooked flight. The spokesperson now claims Atommy did not travel because his visa was expiring that night, and he did not want to take any risk.
Surely, why is this Maendeleo spokesperson fooling us? The first time Osewe put out the poster of Kulturdagen on KSB was on August 26th. That gave a whole week for preparations and arrangements for Atommy’s visit. Instead, we are now being fed with mumbo jumbo about his visa that was to expire last Saturday night.
The tall drunk woman explained in another article that she could have paid for the musician’s trip if necessary. Why would a non member do so? It means that the spokesperson did not work with other members to plan the event. Honestly, the revelers need a better story than this.
Bendera, you have been away for too long now. At least, something new is up now and I can joyfully play. Let us begin:
“I appeal for the members of our community to unite together and stop hatred campaigns as this do not bring development. It is embarrassing for us to come all the way from African to fight one another in this far country”.
Unite together… and stop hatred campaigns (ho ho: Can some traveller just tell me: How can we “unite together” and what happened to “campaigns of hatred?”)
… as this do not bring development (read- does not). She then says that “we are fighting one another…” (including me? we?). OK. I have made my point. Surely, we have real zombies in Stockholm posing as Spokespeople. I pitty those women she is speaking for.
Am not suprised luos are so many u r in sudan,uganda,tanzania,nigeria etc but the problem u have is,u unite when ur fighting other tribes but u never unite to sopport each other hahaha haaaaa lagards.
Spokesperson, according to you: “IN SHORT, THE PERSON WHO PUT THE MONEY INTO THE ACCOUNT IS THE ONE WHO REMOVED THE SIGNATORIES WHO HAD ALREADY SWINDLED THE ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY REASONS.”
For your information, no one removes a public organization’s signatories without informing the paid up members and officials. If there was an earlier case of fraud, there are set mechanisms to be followed internally as per given Statutes and externally, including reporting to the suspects to the Police or other relevant authorities.
For the main organizer to have taken the matter personally by manipulating minutes and coercing others to become signatories, it shows how desparate she was to control the organization. Too late now because the matter is with the police and a lot will have to be answered.
Unfortunately, this information was given to us very late at night by his Manager in Germany. Any inconvenience is highly regretted.
Don’t worry baby. The information was ”given late at night” and the Party ended at 10 am. OK. They had the info but no one was told (even those who left at 10). Surely, that was good.
Spokesperson: “In the absence of the proper order in the organization the Chairperson has the responsibility to bring the Organization in line.”
Yada yada yada! Does this include manipulating and signing fake minutes? The Chairperson overlooked the internal rule of first discussing and seeking consensus with the Committee. That is why she went ahead and deposited cash into the organization’s account without informing the rest. Her defense is so weak she might be jailed for fraud if this is how she will present herself before the prosecutor.
“Everything was fantastic and I hope we will have another wonderful event in the future. All the Artists and DJs were all paid on the same day.”
Liar, liar, liar. There’s proof that none was paid on the same day including the Maendeleo members who had bankrolled the event. So much was NOT fantastic and participants have expressed that at KSB.
With the money from Sigtuna Kommun, the organizer had no right to charge people for the event unless she took the right permits to sell food and drinks. This was criminal because the function was supposed to be sponsored by the Kommun money.
Bullcrap!!! What a useless defense. We wait for the court proceedings. Am smelling jail for this nasty woman.
Sorry to all who are making this “scandal” such a big deal ,most of you opening their mouths here are no angles to scandals and are only waiting for others to make a mistake so to open their mouths.I urge Kenyans especialy from my community(Luo)to do something better with their lives than waiting for years in out and you are still stuck in ur misseries trying to get an oppotunity to burst out.You have got a new constitution now,if you are over 40 years and still living here on scandles go back home and try to live your kenyan dreams instead of scandalizing yourselves here. Jivunia Kuwa Mkenya
Well, Kenyadamu2010… Corrections in grammar should only form a basis for complaint when the accused author is a proffesional that SHOULD know the correct spelling and syntax.
That said, my friend…’Pity’ is NOT spelled ‘Pitty’.
I think there are some very valid reasons why people should ask questions about this matter. I agree that a Statement without a name behind it has no force at all regardless of whether or not the truth is being told. The ommission of a name in the Statement could be seen as an admission that the writer is hiding something. The spokesperson has written that:
“…The Cultural Event mentioned early has already taken place, and the Spokesman is now busy writing the Report to the Kommun that gave the money for the event, while the Committee is still fighting to block the money in the account”.
My questios are as follows: We have been told that the funds were “frozen” in a bank account so how does one proceed to write a report about an event funded by State money that are frozen in an account?
Is this person trying to say that private individuals bankrolled a State funded function after funds were frozen by the same State and that now she is trying to account for private funds to the State or is it me who doesn’t get it? Has this person become the Tax collector to bail out the State when State police has frozen funds in an account because of alleged criminal activity?
If the State funded the function so that the public could enjoy, why were people asked to pay 100kr? Does this person notice that some of the people who attended the function pay Taxes and may have technically have paid through the State (bankrolled) for the function to take place?
In any case, how can the Spokesperson account for funds after a function because this should be the work of the Treasurer. If she is now accounting for the funds as she says it means she is both the Spokesperson and the Treasurer. This is not possible in an organization where democracy functions. The Constitution should spell the roll of both the Spokesperson and the Treasurer. There are so many wrong things here.
If this was a “State-funded function” as the advert says, the best option once State funds were frozen was for the organizers to call-off the function and give the freezing of the account as a valid reason of calling it off. The group could then have proceeded to sort out the matter with both the police and the organization for the account to be de-frozen so that the function could continue at a later date. If this were done, we couldn’t be here.
Another issue is that regardless of how good and fantastic the function was, it doesn’t replace the fact that the organizers did not deliver the Artist whom, in this case, is Atommy. If people followed the advert to come to the function, they have a legal right to ask for refunds from the orgnaizers. In Law, the organizers cannot get away by arguing that some Artists performed. The organizers should either have warned the public that the Artist was not coming before the event or told them so when they were being asked to pay at the gate. If they didn’t, it amounts to defrauding the public. In a court, it will not help to argue that Atommy missed his flight.
I have studied Law and my advice to those involved in this scam is that they should stop talking about what happened to State funds here if the matter is under police investigation because they are being pre-judicial. This blogger can be forced by the State to give IPs of people writing here if State investigators feel that information being given here is relevant to the investigations and can lead to prosecutions. The Spokesperson is only safe here if she cannot be identified but if the States decides to identify her for reasons of investigations, she might end up with a fine or even land in jail so she needs to withdraw the Statement because it is very incriminating. The Statement is itself hard evidence that money was illegally withdrawn from the bank account by the Spokesperson and what the State needs to do to use the Statement is to force the blogger to give her IP address for tracking.
This person has also written that the money was “only 15.000kr”. For the State, the amount does not matter because it is Tax payer’s money and even if it was 1 kr, the State would still go to court to recover it. Those who are safe at the moment are those who froze the account because what will happen is that they will be seen by the Court as people who were trying to save Tax payer’s money when they noticed that something was wrong.
The blogger has written a disclaimer that the post has been edited for legal reasons. The blogger is responsible for everything written here and it looks like he is the only one who knows what he is doing. Removing names of persons from the Statement makes it impossible for anybody to sue the blogger but this does not stop the State from pursuing the real author of the Statement, getting the original post and using it as evidence in court. Even if the blogger has deleted the original post, the State has authority to contact the blog host to retrieve the original post because the host is legally bound to keep such posts in the archive for a specific period of time.
I hope this will help the organization deal with the matter and also help the people writing here to understand the main issues in the matter and the legal implications. Tax fraud remains a serious offence both in Sweden and Internationally.
Legal View, I support your valuable input on the possible legal implications arising from the blunders made by the main organizer. The lady claims that the function was fantastic yet her own relative (the tall drunkard) stated very clearly that she was bored and had to improvise by “causing a scene on the dance floor” in the name of filling up the emptiness.
A major lesson for the main organizer is she should be cooperative and allow other divergent views in a public organization. If money had been swindled, the matter ought to have been resolved first instead of changing signatories and going ahead to withdraw part of the Kommun’s cash for the function. And by the way (as stated by Legal View), how can she write a report to account for money bankrolled by individuals because the Kommun’s cash remains frozen? She must have emerged from a long drunken stupor to think that KSB readers are stupid like her.
The Spokesperson is therefore ignorant because once an account is frozen, even Satan cannot withdraw money from it. This attempt only confirms the rumor that the performers had not been paid immediately, so the shady leader had to pull the poor women signatories to sign for the cash, and yet failed again.
There were so many mistakes made right in the beginning due to the stubborn nature of the main organizer. For instance, Dj Jimmy was initially sidelined until somebody advised this woman that he knows the right music for the event, given the expected guests.
Even though the food was an improvement from what guests were served during Atommy’s first concert, whisky was unnecessarily expensive. Zakala Muzika did not impress, nor did Dj Richie. These are facts that must be mentioned because reliable sources claimed that the main organizer was confused by somebody who favored other performers over the ones who might have done better for the crowd. Atommy’s first visit attracted very many people, while last weekend’s function was not a crowd puller although it was held in a tiny hall.
Some Maendeleo women left in protest after being told Atommy had missed his flight and would not perform. If the organizer had been smart enough, this could have been fixed much earlier instead of lying to us that his visa was expiring that night. Why could she not check on this before? The real truth is that there was no money to pay the musician.
The main organizer hoped that there would be many guests to compensate for the bankrolling because Maendeleo’s bank account had already been frozen. Unfortunately for her, the event did not break even, so the performers could not be paid immediately as normally required.
The biggest lesson here is for one not to pretend to be the know-it-all person because the consequences can be bitter as in the case of the main lady in question.
The naive main lady does not understand that taking leadership means being candid with members to chart the way forward in an organization. This does not include secretive recruitment of new signatories because for fear of new scams from ejected members. Had she now been writing at KSB to unearth the original fraud she claims to have dogged Maendeleo, readers would be cheering her as a whistle-blower. However, the noose is hanging ready for her neck because she attempted to right a wrong with a wrong. She should know that pride goeth before fall.
It is embarrassing for us to come all the way from African to fight one another in this far country(it is also embarasing to steal from us here rudi nyumbani ukaibie huko!sendhi)
so all along was Atommy´s manager or u guys waiting forsome embassy officials to come and translate the visa exipry date?kadanganye wajinga!nkt
Kenyans in Sweden ur cursed people.Mnakunja na ujinga kutoka majengo mnaitupa hapa hapa.Leave it at JKIA kule kule tafathalina.
I agree with kanyau,some kenyans still carry their old nasty habbits to this civilised world.My fellows kenyans just like kanyau has said we are be-witched especially those who came here earlier like in the 70s and 80s early 90s ,you are the most useless people have seen ,tell us or give us examples of your achievements,NOTHING mdomo tu parapara hapa hapa.You guys need to be deported and we start a new generation of kenyans here.BURE KABISA
Instead of concentrating on the topic, some foolish commentators are bundling “Kenyans” as a homogeneous group. Kenyans will always remain diverse whether they came here eons ago, yesterday or today. Stop being judgmental unless you are taking care of those Kenyans you brand “most useless”.
To my fellow kenyans am shocked by your comments,as i can see most of u were shamba boys or hse maids that manouvered their ways to europe then after learning language then get jobs like baby sitting the old pple then you get yr small salary n start being pumpous n talk nonsense i mean get out the shambaness from u n build up yr useless hmes in kenya let me hear some sense from u in the next comments.
I wrote a comment a few hours ago and it has been deleted from the list of comments. Notably, another comment from Zakala musika that clarified that they were paid during the event has also been removed.
I and my daughter attend the party up to late in the morning.Not at any point did we see or hear people banging tables demanding compansation! I am wondering where the blogger got all this wrong information from?
This is an indication that the blogger is biased against Maendeleo ya Wanawake.
Questions:
So how and why should we believe that the story is credible?
Did the blogger consult Zakala musika to know whether they were paid or not since they are giving a statement contrary to what the blogger gave?
If there should be legal problem the originator of the story should be the one to suffer legal complications why should the blogger fear to put the original story with names as it was given to him then?
Why did the blogger have writen the story and not trashed it if the spokes person refused to disclose here identinty or allow her names to be attached?
The lady who invited me and actually the one who told me to read about the event on the blogg was working throughout the event. I have got in touch with her and she confirmed that all the workers were paid on that day. Did the blogger interview anyone before he wrote that they were not paid?
With all these inconsistencies in the bloggers story it is clear that the blogger is against Maendeleo ya Wanawake is it because they are women?
Africa men, we African women need support of African men if we are to achieve gender balance in our society. If you see women trying to do something please don`t look at it as competition aganst you, we need each other in order to make a positive African image.
Sarah
KSB: Sarah, no one has deleted anything from the comments so check with your computer or change computers. I am the blogger here and my names are Okoth Osewe. Probably, you do not know that it’s me who advertized the event and helped mobilize to the function so stop misreading my intentions. I have been in the good books of Maendeleo and in the run-up to the Party, I was approachd to preside over as the Master of Ceremony at this Party by the nameless “Spokesperson” but I had already been booked so a friend of mine helped. I raised the issue of Atommy because I thought it was unfair to those who attended.
You have been told that the artists have been paid but what you have not been told is that there are Kenyans currently lamenting because their personal cash was used to pay the artists. They were supposed to get their cash after the Party but returned home empty handed and now they are contemplating police action. Go slowly because the crisis in Maendeleo may be deeper. In as much as the event was good, it could be the problematic internal democratic practices in the organization that are returning to haunt the group. The group needs to strengthen its dispute resolution structures especially on organizational disagreements.
Sarah: Open your eyes because your original comment still exists under the “Update” article as number 17, just below Joseph’s who plays for Zakala.
You wrote: “Africa men, we African women need support of African men if we are to achieve gender balance in our society. If you see women trying to do something please don`t look at it as competition aganst you, we need each other in order to make a positive African image.”
You are now proving to be a bootlicker of the nameless Maendeleo Spokesperson because you stated that the blogger is biased against women. Why would African men see a women’s organization as a competition? Surely, this was a shallow comment. Can you prove through the ongoing story that Osewe is against women?
Maendeleo ya Wanawake is for women and they need to put their act together to succeed. You should not inject a gender angle by writing that men need to support them. It sounds more like they are a weaker sex and not equal partners with men. Men do support them because many of the members have male spouses/partners who have always allowed them to participate in it.
Maendeleo is not new, so do not put it as if men are not aware of it. Osewe promoted Kulturdagen at KSB and sent out all the text messages as required. In his reply to you, he mentioned that he had been approached to preside at the event but did not have the time. By the way, some of the women who demanded for Atommy (the musician who did not appear) are among those who bankrolled the function. Their names cannot be written here though.
The Spokesperson’s claim of swindled money was due to a few women, not men. The change of signatories and the faking of minutes was within the group, and not by men. Please stop portraying the KSB blogger as sexist when he publishes about a crisis chewing deep into the existence of Maendeleo.
A mistake within the organization has spiraled into the public arena because its members could not solve it internally. There was no compromise between the main woman and other members, thus leading to the freezing of their account. The matter is deeper as Osewe put it.
Sarah, this entry betrays your Ugandan identity because as an outsider, you have shown more sympathy than objectivity concerning the key woman. You are most likely one of her loyal troops, or the Spokesperson herself using a pseudonym. The blogger was right NOT to publish the names of those mentioned by the organizer because the matter did not concern them. They are not Maendeleo members and after all, the Spokesperson did not write her name either.
Even though the performers were paid, the blogger has stated that members who bankrolled using private cash have not been refunded. It means that one hole has been covered but another is still boiling with filth. Ask yourself why the 15,000kr was not withdrawn for the function as intended. The key organizer stated that she was writing a report to Sigtuna Kommun to account for the cash. However, this is based on private money, and not the Kommun’s, which is frozen at the bank. Of course, the Kommun will be notified about the crisis, since all State funds must be monitored, especially if fraud is involved.
Dig deeper beyond the current story and you will be shocked at the rot within Maendeleo ya Wanawake.
Sarah Nantume, you seem to be furious that Osewe deleted your original comment. Astonishingly, you cannot even recall where you had posted it. You also claim Joseph’s comment on Zakala was deleted. Anybody reading this would think Osewe is against you, yet he put a note under your first comment.
You seem to be a first time commentator who does not know that KSB is the place to discuss all Kenyan matters in Stockholm once they go public. There are some good and bad things concerning the Märsta party and given this platform,commentators have the right to present their thoughts without intimidation or bias. Osewe has the right to delete or edit a comment as per the general Blog rules.
There are so many generalizations in your comment which might be due to your gender, e.g. a sweeping statement that African men should not feel threatened by women’s assembly. Maendeleo was built by women to empower themselves. If weaknesses are pointed out, it is not a men-against-women situation, but about alerting the community on what is going on.
Ati what? All this about an amount of money which is less than what most of you make in one month. You people are idiots.
Kanyau you are so right, these kenyans are stupid.
So money was given by Sigtuna Kommun towards a cultural event, however the money was frozen because of internal political problems within the organization which received the money. The event took place anyway, I am assuming with money borrowed with the expectation that the Sigtuna Kommun money would be released. The event did not break even, in other words a sum of money equal to that given by Sigtuna Kommun was used fully towards the event. This will go very quickly in court. Take it to court and stop with all this nonsense.