In an organization of the Maendeleo ya Wanawake type, fiscal matters requires unquestionable providence. Although barely known to the Kenya-Stockholm public, Maendeleo ya Wanawake hit the headlines at KSB last week in a rather unceremonious and bumpy style – thanks to the Atommy debacle which seemed to foretoken a deep crisis within the organization.
From details spewed in the public domain by spooky KSB commentators, Maendeleo ya Wanawake organized a Party in Märsta where Benga musician Atommy Sifa was supposed to be the star of the night. The entrance fee had been hiked to 100kr because it was a live show. When revelers arrived, there was no Atommy.
Although the Party was reported to have been “fantastic” with other artists having lived up to expectation, a cabal of revelers who felt defrauded took contact with KSB to highlight what they saw as a scandal. In Kenya-Stockholm, there is never lack of explanations to a real or imagined scandal and as the clock ticked, the “Commission of Hot Gossip” in Kenya-Stockholm quickly came up with an explanation – that Atommy had gone missing because Maendeleo was in crisis and that there was no cash to pay Atommy.
Sensing that the air was getting polluted with anti-Maendeleo propaganda, a mysterious and nameless Spokesperson of Maendeleo sent a statement to KSB in a kind of damage control. The Statement was heavily loaded with unsubstantiated claims, innuendo and witch-hunting of named individuals and had to be edited heavily for legal reasons. On the whole, the Statement tended to abdicate Maendeleo from responsibility following the atomy debacle while it was also clearly meant to explain why Atommy had gone missing at the Party. Unfortunately, it was too little too late because the Kenya-Stockholm rumour mills had already started grinding.
From a sampling of what Kenya-Stockholm’s Radio and TV Stations were broadcasting, Atommy did not surface because Maendeleo bank account had apparently been frozen by a section of Committee members after cash was allegedly withdrawn from the account by unknown people. According to intelligence gathered by KSB, Maendeleo has a sitting Committee of seven members. In June, a member responded to a request by Sigtuna Kommun for funds application after which 15.000kr was wired into the Association’s account by the Kommun.
This was not the first time the Association was getting funds from Sigtuna. The last time when the Association was granted a similar amount, everything went on smoothly and the Association organized a fantastic event in Märsta that was well attended so what happened this time around?
Information gathered by KSB show that once cash was wired into the account, two Committee members apparently recruited a Kenyan woman into the Association without the knowledge of other Committee members before the three processed documents, changed signatories to the bank account and withdrew 5,000kr from the account without the knowledge of other Committee members.
The transaction was discovered by the Association’s Secretary through a bank statement sent via the Association’s Post Box. Since there had been no authority from the Committee for cash withdrawal, the Secretary inquired from the signatories what was happening. When it emerged that non of the known signatories were involved in the transaction, the bank was alerted and the advice from the bank was that the account be frozen with immediate effect. To freeze a bank account because of suspected fraud, a police report has to be filed.
Police Statement
According to intelligence, an emergency Committee meeting was called at the house of one of the Committee members. However, two Committee members suspected to have been behind the change of signatures did not attend the meeting while one member sent an apology. It is at this meeting (which was attended by four Committee members) that a decision was taken that the account be frozen as the Association tried to sort out the matter.
A police Statement was subsequently filed by the Secretary and the account was officially frozen. When the new signatories went to withdraw more cash to spend on the planned Party, they were told that the account had been frozen. By then, plans for the Atommy Party were at advanced stages. In order not to sabotage the Party, some Committee members bankrolled it but at the end of the Party, there was no cash to pay back the bank rollers because the {Party did not even break-even.
Obviously, what has happened is unfortunate. However, the Committee should now be looking for solutions because mistakes seem to have been made. What the Committee should avoid is further public exchanges that will further fuel rather than calm down the crisis. In as much as those responsible need to account for their actions, the Committee should not kill the Association because of the crisis.
A key Committee member, who seem to have masterminded the scandal, should stop blaming men for the Association’s problems. Attacking KSB for reporting the story will not end the court case but will only provide further evidence that may be used against the alleged perpetrators. A police case has been filed, tax payer’s money is involved and, according to legal experts, the brain boxes behind the scandal may face jail terms or be made to pay huge fines for playing around with tax money.
If they are first offenders, Court sources say that the culprits may end up with a fine, community service (of at least 50hrs) and “an out of prison sentence”. The out of prison jail term means that a GPS controlled ring is fastened above the ankle of the “prisoner” to prevent the offender from leaving a certain area during the period of the jail term. If they are repeated offenders, the suspects could as well be heading for the real prison.
In the event of a sentence, the culprits will have their sentences permanently contained in police records and this could affect their future lives in Sweden. A Court Clerk was emphatic that in such cases, proving fraud is easy because the documentation is with the bank and the big question is whether cash was withdrawn illegally.
In view of the seriousness of the situation, leaders of Maendeleo ya Wanawake should sort out the crisis internally as the State continues with its investigations. Vilification, besmirching of commentators or further widening of schisms within the Committee is not in the long term interest of the Association. Likewise, converting the matter into a “Gender issue” where men are supposed to be conspiring against women is whimsical. Mismanagement is mismanagement whether it is raised by men or women. The Party was fantastic but it left a big mess that needs to be cleaned. There is every reason for Maendeleo to sort out the matter through its internal machinery.
Okoth Osewe
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Jauong
Koro to ber mondo wakwe let us give
them time to themselves as it is in the word of of Constitution of the Kenyakvinno Föreiningen.They will find path.Tony Odera
Take it to court so this thing can end in a final and conclusive way. This case will be dismissed within minutes. It’s a nonsense case about infighting and a trivial sum of money.
Meanwhile, the members of this organization should think again whether it’s working for them they way they want it to. If things could get this bad, the group should disband after they sort out this issue.
Still I hope this is a lesson in how Kenyans should do things in future. Co-operation is not always necessary since not everyone has the same end-goal in mind and a lot of time and resources can be wasted in trying to get people to work together who should really be working separately. However transparency and honesty in matters involving other people is very important, otherwise people make wrong decisions and wrong conclusions and things that could have been easily solved blow up into bigger problems.
the bone of contention is the act of embezzlement through changing signatories and manipulating minutes not authorized by the steering Committee. the prosecutor will not be interested in the 15,000kr because it is not stolen, so far. The legal implication is how the main organizer thought she would stamp out fraud by going behind the back of the Maendeleo Committee. Osewe has written here that the group had at a certain time been awarded money by the same Kommun. Why did the Chairlady overreact this time? Why did she not agree with the Committee? the case cannot be solved internally in the sense of suspected fraud. However, a restructuring of Maendeleo has to be the first priority in order to fulfil its objectives.