Kenya Stockholm Blog

The Tonny Odera Funeral Committee would like to inform all contributors and the public that following the last update, there were new developments that precipitated changes in the final accounting. The following is the final update of the accounts.

After the publication of the last Report, the Committee received contributions from four Kenyans namely: Nelly Musira, Martin Ngatia, Teresa Mawa and Nancy Osumba. The new contributions totaled 1500kr and together with the initial amount of 12.315, the final figure is 13.815kr. From this amount, SEK 5.400 was used in the purchase of a ticket for Tonny who travelled to Kenya on Monday, February 10th 2014 leaving a balance of SEK 8.415.

From this amount, there were certain overhead expenses incurred before Tonny left for Kenya. Telephone communication to Kenya cost SEK 200, transport to Arlanda cost SEK 220 while parking fees at Arlanda cost SEK 80 bringing total costs to SEK 500. The final amount given to Tonny to help with funeral expenses was therefore SEK 7.915.

From this amount, SEK 915 was converted into Kenyan shillings and given to Tonny as he left for Kenya while the balance of SEK 7.000 was sent to him through Ria Money Transfer Services. The Committee’s strategy was to reduce risks by reducing the volume of cash carried by Tonny during his transit to Kenya. This strategy was endorsed at the fund raising on Saturday, 8th February 2014 and was announced by Marine Engineer, Okulo Masala.

Problems
Following the announcement of Tonny’s bereavement, a bank account was advertised and contributors were encouraged to deposit funds in that account. The Committee was later updated that the account in question did not belong to Tonny but to a friend of Tonny. The Committee would like to state that the funds that have so far been accounted for do not include any funds that may have been deposited in that account.

This is because the account holder turned hostile when contacted by the Committee for an update of the flow of harambee funds in the account. The account holder never attended the fund raising on 8th February and there was no report while after he turned hostile, the Committee cut off communication with him because he wanted to be left in peace.

Before consultations broke down, the account holder told the Committee that he was in touch with Tonny and that he would only take instructions from him. The Committee had contacted him with a view to including any funds that may have been deposited in the account in the final totals. The last word between the account holder and the Committee was that the account holder would account for any funds deposited in the account while the Committee would account for funds raised at the Harambee on Saturday 8th February after which the account holder banged the phone. That was after the account holder admitted that some Tonny cash had been deposited in his account.

The account holder is known to be a cool guy and it was impossible to understand why he went berserk when asked to report about harambee developments in his account. In a very emotional tone akin to someone bracing for real battle, he not only accused the Committee of not trusting him but reiterated that he was a mature and transparent person who had no problem with accountability.  In fact, he sounded like someone who could pull punches if the conversation was taking place live and under the circumstances, the Committee decided to leave him alone so that he could deal with the matter in his own way.

Since Tonny left for Kenya, the Committee has been in touch with him and he has reported that the burial proceeded well on Saturday 15th February 2014. Tonny is expected back in Stockholm on February 23rd. Once again, the Committee would like to thank everybody who made the harambee exercise a big success.

Okoth Osewe
Information Desk
Tonny Odera Funeral Committee