[kictanet] Fwd: [ke-internetusers] Safaricom - A case against "Ghost Owners"

[Alex Gakuru]

FYI -Separately, 

--------Forwarded message------ 

--- JME Simekha <simekhajme at gmail.com> wrote:

> Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:01:03 -0700
> From: "JME Simekha" <simekhajme at gmail.com>
> To: Judy <judy.adhiambo at gmail.com>
> CC: ke users <ke-internetusers at bdix.net>
> Subject: [ke-internetusers] Safaricom - A case
> against "Ghost Owners"
> 
> *SAFARICOM – A CASE AGAINST 'GHOST OWNERS'*
> 
> 
> 
> Kenyans own Telkom Kenya; a company that we all have
> invested our taxes in,
> and therefore, Telkom is a public asset. Telkom once
> owned Safaricom
> entirely. Safaricom, in the last three years, has
> been the best performing
> company in Kenya. At some point, Telkom decided to
> sell part of Safaricom
> and struck a deal with Vodafone of the United
> Kingdom, which bought 30
> percent of the shares. Telkom was left with 70
> percent. However, to date
> Telkom owns only 60 percent of the company. This is
> a story of who owns the
> 10 percent and how that percent was illegally and
> fraudulently acquired.
> This is a case against the 'ghost owners' of
> Safaricom who are reaping where
> they did not sow and secondly, want the public to
> buy what they literally
> stole from the Kenyans.
> 
> 
> 
>    1. *From Telkom to Vodafone*
> 
> Part of privatization process, initially pushed as
> part of World Bank
> conditionalities, involved off-loading some of the
> 100 percent ownership of
> Safaricom, which Telkom held since the establishment
> of the company. Telkom
> sought a partner and sold off the 30 percent of the
> shares. Vodafone bid and
> got the deal, getting 30 percent of the shares. All
> paper work regarding
> legal and company transfer was complete, and hence
> Safaricom was jointly
> owned by Kenyans and the company based in the United
> Kingdom.
> 
>  2. *From Vodafone to Vodacom Kenya Ltd.*
> 
> Vodafone is known to have made a formal request for
> an extra 10 percent of
> shares held by Telkom. Rather than bid directly, a
> 'subsidiary company' by
> the name Vodacom Kenya Ltd, did the bidding. This
> company managed to get the
> 10 percent from Telkom. However, there is no legal
> paper work that was
> undertaken. No legal transfer from Telkom to
> Vodafone and then to Vodacom
> was carried out. At some point, Vodacom is said to
> have off-loaded 5 percent
> of the shares back to Vodafone but this did not
> last, as the shares were
> 'returned' to Vodacom Kenya Ltd.
> 
> 
> 
> In fact, part of the fraud involved two critical
> issues that the
> Parliamentary Investment Committee (PIC) documented
> in their recent report.
> First, the Safaricom Chief Executive Officer,
> Michael Joseph, claimed not to
> know who owners of the 10 percent shares are.
> Secondly, a forged letter,
> which was backdated to year 2000, was produced by
> Michael Joseph as evidence
> but this was unacceptable to the PIC. Therefore,
> from Telkom to Vodafone,
> the deal involving 30 percent shares was legal.
> However, the deal of 10
> percent from Telkom to Vodafone, then to Vodacom,
> back to Vodafone and then
> back to Vodacom was illegal and compounded by
> mystery and secrecy.
> 
> 
> 
>    1. *From Vodacom Kenya Ltd to Mobitelea*
> 
> Vodacom has since changed its name to Mobitelea.
> Mobitelea is registered in
> Guernsey, a small island within the territory of the
> United Kingdom,
> adjacent to the English Channel. This is an island
> ill-famed for
> money-laundering but is gradually working on such
> infamous attributions. The
> 'ghost owners' of Mobitelea are reportedly: former
> president Daniel
> Toroitich arap Moi, Nicholas Kiprono Kipyator arap
> Biwott and the son-in-law
> of Biwott. If these allegations are confirmed, then
> the owners cease
> forthwith to be 'ghost owners'. The three gentlemen,
> are reaping where they
> did not sow. Other than being transferred 10 percent
> of Telkom holding of
> Safaricom shares illegally and without paying a
> penny for it, they have been
> reaping dividends which today amount to Kshs 850
> million. Mobitelea owes
> Kenyans, not just the initial value of the shares
> that they never paid for,
> but also the accrued dividends arising from the
> profits made by Safaricom
> and forwarded to Mobitelea. This is illegal, unjust,
> and unacceptable to
> owners of Telkom and by extension Safaricom – the
> Kenyan taxpayers.
> 
> 
> 
>    1. *From Mobitelea to Safaricom IPO*
> 
> Safaricom Initial Public Offer (IPO) has already
> been set in motion. The
> Government of Kenya (GoK) has announced that it
> wants to off-load 25 percent
> of the shares Telkom has in Safaricom. GoK,
> represented by the Minister for
> Finance, has said that the IPO is unstoppable. With
> an unwarranted smile,
> the Minister for Finance is asking Kenyans to be
> part of the glory that
> Safaricom has become. No doubt, anyone wants to be
> part of the billions in
> profit that Safaricom mints every year. However,
> before Kenyans get
> financially excited, they should and must ask the
> question: which shares are
> on sale? First, do the 10 percent of shares, which
> were stolen from the
> public by Mobitelea, part of the 25 percent on
> offer? Secondly, is the GoK
> off-loading 25 percent of the remaining 60 percent?
> Third, why should
> Kenyans buy shares in Safaricom without confirming
> who the other
> shareholders are?
> 
> 
> 
>    1. *Breach of the Laws *
> 
> The Minister for Finance argues all laws have been
> observed and that the
> Privatization Act is the only ammunition that
> Kenyans can have to stop the
> Safaricom IPO. Nothing could be further from the
> truth.  There are many
> other laws, which have been breached. Beginning with
> the Privatization Act
> however, the Minister for Finance should tell
> Kenyans why Treasury, despite
> assent by the President, had to wait for a warning
> from National Assembly
> Speaker Mr Francis ole Kaparo to make moves to
> operationalise it. This has
> not been explained by the smiling Minister for
> Finance.
> 
> 
> 
> Secondly, the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Act
> has ably defined
> corruption to involve attempted or actual fraud.
> Other laws, such as the
> Companies Act, Communications Act, and State
> Corporations Act have been
> breached. The Capital Markets Act (Regulations) has
> also been breached, to
> the extent that the intended Safaricom IPO has not
> been accompanied by
> disclosure to the potential shareholders, who are
> the actual owners of
> Mobitelea. Therefore, with or without
> operationalizing the Privatization
> Act, the GoK, through the Minister for Finance, has
> breached several other
> Laws of Kenya.
> 
> * *
> 
>    1. *Final Word: Stop Safaricom IPO, Do not Buy
> what is Yours*
> 
> Safaricom IPO needs to be stopped in its tracks.
> Kenyans could be part of
> the process to cover up fraud or legitimizing it,
> when participating in the
> impending Safaricom IPO. The fraud involves looting
> from the public asset –
> Telkom – by Mobitelea. Secondly, in the process
> Kenyans are likely to be
> floated some or all the 10 percent of shares owned
> by Mobitelea. This would
> be tantamount to buying from oneself. Do not buy
> what is yours. Third, a
> Public Interest Litigation (PLI) is being instituted
> by civil Society
> Organizations (CSOs) in the High Court on 31st
> August, 2007. The Application
> seeks a Court Injunction to stop the Safaricom IPO,
> pending the ownership of
> Safaricom, is disclosed to the public. Be part of
> the process to stop the
> Safaricom IPO, as engaging in it will be the second
> fraud of public
> property: Safaricom, a property which you have paid
> taxes to establish and
> sustain.
> 
> -- 
> Simekha JME
> Director of Programmes
> Projects & Allied Consultants Ltd
> 1st Floor, Rattansi Educational Trust Building
> Koinange/Monrovia Street
> Opposite Kengeles Restaurant
> P. O. Box 8924 GPO
> Nairobi 00100, Kenya
> Tel: (+254 20) 340896 / 341097; (+254) 721 920 151
> Fax: (+254 20) 341099
> E-mail:  simekha.joseph at paconsult.co.ke ;
> simekhajme at gmail.com
> 
> Focusing on what's going right is a great idea, and
> can be quite energizing.
> We often spend far too long thinking about what's
> going wrong!
> > _______________________________________________
> ke-internetusers mailing list
> ke-internetusers at bdix.net
>
http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers
> 



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.
http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/ 
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
ke-internetusers mailing list
ke-internetusers at bdix.net
http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers