US Company Claims Foul Play Over Nairobi High School Funds

File image of Kenyan bank notes
File image of Kenyan bank notes
File

An American based donor organisation, Kenya Children Fund (KCF), has raised the  alarm over possible misappropriation of funds by their Kenyan based  partner, Wezesha  Watoto Kenya  (WWK).

In an interview with Citizen TV, the outgoing CEO of KCF, Ginger Palm stated that all seemed well until she handed power to her Kenyan successor, Collins Mugele, a lawyer educated by the fund.

Palm revealed that the organisation was required to enter a partnership with a local entity and it did so through Lawyer Onsando Ongoji, who registered WWK as the organisation that received the funds.

“It was always the organisation’s  dream to have Kenyan Child Fund (KCF) African  Managed.” said Palm.

Dandora dumpsite pictured on December 2018
Dandora dumpsite pictured in December 2018.
Photo
Sue Anderson

However, it was later discovered that the acquired title deed was not registered under the NGO's name, but instead was under WWK, a limited liability. “That place belongs to the families of Dandora, not to any company,” reaffirmed Palm.

In response, Mugele claimed that he has been unable to take up the duties of his role since he faced opposition some certain quarters. He further accused the lawyer of threatening him from assuming the office as CEO.

However when the journalist covering the story reached out to Onsando he directed them to his lawyer, who rubbished the allegations noting that the matter was under investigation  by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

The row has become evident to the people of Kinyago in Nairobi's Dandora estate, sending panic among many parents who fully depend on the facility for their children’s educational needs.

The KCF is a non-governmental organisation that runs Kinyago Dandora School which has over 500 children from nursery through to standard 8.

The  donor organisation later established a secondary in 2006, Kinyago Dandora Secondary, which was ranked by the Kenyan  Ministry of Education as the best school in Njiru district.

Kenya Children Fund then established a vocational school that offers courses that include sewing, business and computer studies.

The Fund also established a feeding program for nursery children in Dandora

Children at Kinyango Dandora Primary School
Children at Kinyango Dandora Primary School Children.
Kenya Children Fund Site