Every country needs its whistleblowers. They are crucial to a healthy society. The employee who, in the public interest, has the independence of judgement and the personal courage to challenge malpractice or illegality is a kind of public hero.
Fuad Alakbarov
This is a cry for help to save the Kakamega County Assembly from acts of mismanagement, bullying, sexual harassment and massive embezzlement of funds.
We are a group of 5 anonymous insiders of Kakamega County Assembly who don’t like how things are happening at the County Assembly. The Assembly has been taken hostage by two members and their groupies who have continued with impunity to treat the County Assembly as their property.
We have watched from far and hoped that things will get better, only for life to continue getting worse at every turn. We have decided to pay this ultimate price by speaking out. Because if we continue to keep quiet we will also be part of the problem. We know we run the risk of being victimized Incase our identity is known, but we have made peace with the fact that this will be a small price to pay. For men and women have paid prices even with their lives.
We cry for help because a number of members of staff have resigned to fate. Most have started applying jobs elsewhere and others considering resigning. (But if we all resign we only let the oppressors win). Because no matter how hard we work, we will never be good enough. Always we will be viewed as an irritant, good for nothing and an outsider. An outsider in the sense of belonging to a different clan, sub tribe or even as having nothing to offer sexually. Our character won’t be judged by the hard work we display , the tasks we accomplish or how productive we are but by the people we know, our relations, where we come from. We cry for help not to defame any person but so that our hard work can be appreciated and rewarded. We cry for help because we have literally hit rock bottom. We don’t know what else to do, because those who champion impunity are way too powerful, way too unreasonable and way too unprofessional. We cry for help because we know no one is allowed to make us inferior without our permission and consent. We cry for help because bullies understand only one language ( that of standing up against them). We cry for help because we know if we keep quiet in the face of injustice, we are on the side of the oppressor. Like the sole voice in the wilderness, we cry out for help. Only that in this situation, we are five of us.
The problem that haunts the Kakamega County Assembly is caused by the following:
1. Laban Atemba- Clerk of County Assembly
He is the face of impunity. He lives in a glass house made of nepotism, favoritism and opportunism.
He is known for nepotism rather clanism and sexual harassment. You are likely to obtain favors from him if you are his relative or you belong to his Clan. Further, if you are a lady and you fall for his sexual advances, you’ll be in favor with him.
He is arrogant, corrupt and his gubernatorial aspirations has clouded his actions.
He wants to get 300 million for his gubernatorial campaign from the Assembly funds. It is for this reason that he recently deployed one Beatrice Illavonga from Fiscal Analyst to Principal Accountant, just to use her to achieve his target . Further, the Internal Auditor who has been frequently raising red flags on their operations was redeployed to the Fiscal Analyst office. All this was done without approval from the County Assembly Service Board( the board disowned the redeployment letters).
Beatrice is constantly reminded that she was placed in her current position for a reason. The Eacc officers in Kisumu and Eldoret are a big joke as they help him cover his tracks.
Further, the Car loan and Mortgage scheme which he is the administrator, has no funds. This despite the fact that a total of 8.5M is recovered Monthly from members of County Assembly who are the beneficiary of the scheme. This has made it even hard for members of staff to also benefit from the same. Recently, when the SRC issued a circular to give Mcas car grant, it was established that the Assembly scheme had only 100k despite monthly recoveries of 8.5Million. He could not explain to Members where the Money has been going.
His carrot and stick to MCAs is fictitious claims.
His main accomplice is the Leader of Majority.They are known to cover their tracks well and use Aminah Mukonzo, Ramadhan Mohammed and Nicholas Anywa ( kitchen cabinet) to do their dirty work for them.
2. Beatrice Illavonga – Fiscal Analyst
She was recently redeployed to the Principal Accountant office. She is a known Girlfriend to the Clerk despite being married.
She was redeployed in order to assist the Clerk raise Campaign Money for his gubernatorial ambition. As she does this for the Clerk, she also benefits from the spoils by paying herself fictitious claims since she’s the Accountant. She’s constantly reminded that she was placed there to make money flow with ease.
3. Nicholas Anywa- Principal Clerk Assistant
He is the Clerk designate when the Current Clerk goes for governorship. His work is to ensure steady flow of campaign funds from Assembly funds.
He is the second blue eyed boy of the Clerk. Further, his work is to ensure the Clerk is supplied with Money through Committees without knowledge of the Speaker. He’ll ensure committees check in to Ebunangwe Garden park hotel ( a hotel co owned by the Clerk and Majority Leader) so that inflated invoices are raised and the Assembly forced to pay. Recently, Eacc were looking into the matter, but an officer from the same Eacc tipped them and they forged board minutes to show that the Majority Leader had declared interest when the matter about Ebunangwe Garden park came up for discussion.
He is in every Assembly trip even those that happen on the same day and he’ll surely be paid.
He uses committee trips and Committee reshuffles to obtain sexual favors from staff.
4. Ramadhan Mohammed
He is the blue eyed boy of the Clerk.
He is the personal assistant to the clerk and employee of the County Assembly.
He runs most errands of the Clerk. He operates a secret account where money for the clerk is sent to. You’ll often meet him in banks withdrawing money for the Clerk to tunes of 800,000 .
As a reward, he was recently promoted by the Clerk without the approval of the board from scale 7 to scale 9. This was done even before he got to the scale limit. All this was done yet he had no additional paper. Yet employees with masters degree and other academic qualifications were left out.
Like Nicholas above, he is also in every Assembly trip even those that happen on the same day.
5, Aminah Mukonzo
She is the wife to the Majority Leader.
She was recently promoted from scale 6 to scale 8 because she’s the wife to the Majority Leader. She is the female version of Ramadhan Mohammed only she runs errands for her husband.
Nearly all payments made in respect to the majority leader is made through her.
6. Joel Ongoro- Majority leader
He is a known mganga. He uses fear to silence members threatening them with ” kuwaroga” because yeye ni mganga. He operates a cartel of Mcas mostly from his sub county and those friendly to the clerk to silence any MCA who may want to question.
Just like the Clerk, he is corrupt, bullish and full of intimidation.
Work together with his new wife-Amina Mukonzo above, they have become filthy rich overnight.
He will demand for cash or sex from staff in order to get favors from him .
We have decided to pen out this cry for help albeit anonymously in the hope that someone out there may come out to our rescue. Our hope was in the service board but the two guys seem to have taken hostage of the board that they even have the guts to unilaterally make decisions not sanctioned by the board.
We may be dismissed as cry babies or jilted lovers or even a bunch of jealous people, but we are alive to the fact that not everybody will believe us. We have hidden ourselves just to protect ourselves from the mighty who may do harm to us for speaking the truth. It our hope that this speaking out will give strength to the rest of us to speak up whenever it comes to it. We have refused to be bullied and made inferior. We have chosen the high road of reaching to you so that our story is told for the world to know.
We do not have anything personal against the mentioned. All we want is a fair space for all of us, equity, fairness.
We highly recommend to the investigative agencies not just to take our word for it, but to undertake a lifestyle audit on each and every person discussed above and truly we shall be vindicated.
All the six have acquired vast properties within the last 3 years. We will in the near future at the request of any investigative organ list all properties recently acquired by the six and even provide pictorial evidence which we have
Out of respect for the two of us in our group who have endured sexual harassment and forms of bullying and intimidation, we shall not disclose their identity. We hope that the world will stand with them and give them the reassurance they badly need. Further we hope their courage will encourage others to speak out; even anonymously.
We remain yours truthfully,
The Anonymous Five
“One thing I learned as a journalist is that there is at least one disgruntled person in every workplace in America — and at least double that number with a conscience. Hard as they try, they simply can’t turn their heads away from an injustice when they see one taking place.”
— Michael Moore
