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Kidero Foundation denies having billions in bank account


A board member of a foundation associated with Nairobi governor Evans Kidero and two senior City Hall officials on Thursday said the NGO maintains only one bank account that did not have billions of shillings.

He was reacting to newspaper reports.

Kidero Foundation secretary George Wainaina said they had only one account at a local bank for paying salaries. He is also the Nairobi County Chief of Staff.

But a scrutiny of the account indicates that the foundation has a different bank account where an internal transfer debit dated February 3, 2014 of Sh1.45 million was made.

ANOMALY

Confronted with this evidence, Mr Wainaina described it as “an anomaly.”

“Take it from me, we only have one account,” he said.

From the account, there is no evidence of other payments apart from salaries.

Mr Wainaina had told The Nation that the foundation had been set up to help the needy, pay school fees and contribute to harambees.

On Thursday, he said that the foundation was set up to pay for Kidero’s campaign youth.

Mr Wainaina said that the foundation had been transparent. “I am bitter that someone would make allegations that we run a foundation that is doing shaddy business while in fact I am the one funding it,” said Mr Wainaina.

In the bank account document seen by Nation, the governor had only made a single contribution of Sh1 million towards the foundation on June 6, 2014.

Mr Wainaina said that the foundation mainly gets its funds from him and his own companies.

MAIN FINANCIERS

According to the document, Ndeiya Farm Limited which the Chief of Staff says he owns, Lodwar Wholesale owned by his brother and The Cups Limited owned by his son, are the main financiers of the foundation used to pay the people who campaigned for them “but could not be absorbed in the county as workers”.

He added that the money is also withdrawn to pay for “voter holders” – those who mobilise residents during governor’s visit.

The documents also show that the foundation pays a monthly salary of Sh1.7 million as the voter holders are paid between Sh20,000 and Sh40,000 per a Kidero visit to their area.

Mr Wainaina said that he had been paying taxes and has been running everything transparently. He has absolved Governor of any involvement in the foundation.