A Kibra based girls charity school in Nairobi Nairobi is on the spot for allegedly embezzlement and diversion of donor funding for personal gain.
According to impeccable sources privy with the goings on, the centre located in the sprawling Kibra slums in could be on the radar of donors in what will blow up the lid to charity scandals bedeviling the noble course.
A senior management official is said to have diverted tens of millions earmarked for construction of a multiple storey building and used the same to build a palatial residence in his Siaya County ancestral home.
The posh residence was constructed concurrently alongside the four-storey building at the charity centre school by the same contractor.
“Serious fraud and financial crimes can only be unraveled through a forensic audit of the past audited accounts and financial records. Such ills are possible through acts of commission or omission due to poor financial management and inadequate financial controls, accounting and record keeping.” Millicent Winnie, a professional financial consultant told The Informer.
The children’s homes are regulated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection under Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelgui.
According to our sources, the allegations involve misuse of funds for other purposes outside the charity’s objects and misuse of funds for non-charitable purposes.
There are also claims that fictitious entries are made in the books of accounts to cover tracks of the financial flaws committed.
Previously, the Kenyan government initiated policy review to introduce family-based care at the centre of its child protection system ostensibly to improve their social protection.
Once implemented, this will replace the decades-old practice of privately-run institutions providing institutional care for disadvantaged children.
Currently, there are an estimated 40,000 children in 830 children’s homes across Kenya. Most are privately-run.
Research has shown that institutional care is inherently harmful to a child’s development and well-being.
It places children at increased risk of neglect, physical and sexual abuse as well as exploitation. Children are also more likely to suffer developmental delays that result in poor mental health, academic failure, and increased chances of behavioural problems later in life.
Empirical data further provides that most children are placed in care because of poverty and not because they don’t have families.