The National Assembly Joint Committees on Finance and National Planning and Communication, Information and Innovation received evidence from four parties in regard to the ongoing investigations into the 100 percent buyback of Telkom Kenya Limited by the Government of Kenya.
Mr. Karim Anjarwalla of Anjarwalla & Khanna Advocates, who was a legal advisor to Jamhuri Holdings Limited was the first to appear before the Committee. Jamhuri Holdings Limited financed a loan worth USD51 million, and made payments to different agents to a tune of USD50 million. Mr. Anjarwalla's law firm received USD422,991 in payments as legal advisor.
The Chairperson of the Finance and National Planning Committee Hon. Kuria Kimani (Molo) wanted to know if A&K Advocates represented Jamhuri Holdings and the Government at the same time.
“You were also an escrow agent for the transaction, which means you were the party being paid for holding payment for transfer of shares and holding shares at the same time. You were acting for two interested parties. Being a law firm, and according to the provisions of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act for you to engage the Government of Kenya, there has to be a procurement process. Was there consideration of the procurement process in this transaction?” asked Hon. Kuria.
In his response, Mr. Anjarwalla said, “We were not legal representatives for Jamhuri Holdings Limited and the Government of Kenya, but we were legal representatives of Jamhuri Holdings Limited only, and I have documents supporting that. The Government got independently advised."
The Committee further wanted to know if he knew Mr. Paul Cunningham, the Director of Jamhuri Holdings Limited, and instances they have met.
“Mr. Cunningham is somebody I've known for eight to ten years. I have met him many times in London, where he lives. The first time I met him in Kenya was when he appeared before your Joint Committee in regard to this investigation,” said Mr. Anjarwalla.
Mr. Anjarwalla informed the Committee that he was not present during the signing of the Share Purchase Agreement between the Government and Jamhuri Holdings, and that Mr. Cunningham and the Government signed from wherever they were. He could however not confirm whether the signing was done in person or via email.
The Committee also questioned Adili Trustees Limited, who received USD 2,661,675 on behalf of the Telkom Kenya Management Incentive Plan, funds which were subsequently paid out to current and former staff of Telkom Kenya who had vested rights in the management incentive plan.
The trustees affirmed that the amount they received from Jamhuri Holdings was remitted to Adili Trustees for onward transmission to the beneficiaries.
Another witness who appeared before the Committee was Mr. John Ngumi the Executive Director of Eagle Africa Limited, who was an advisor to Jamhuri Holdings Limited. He was questioned by Members on how he came to be in Jamhuri Holdings.
Mr. Ngumi responded that he was contracted by Helios Investors Limited from 2016 to date, and his role was to be their strategic advisor for Kenya and Africa. He further explained that Jamhuri Holdings Limited is run by funds raised by Helios, and that is how he came to be in Jamhuri Holdings.
Helios Investors received the highest amount totaling USD41,786,058, a payment that was subsequently distributed to its institutional investors including global multilateral finance organizations and leading sovereign wealth funds.
Hon. Kuria wanted to know what kind of skill Mr. Ngumi had that would make him get paid USD3,071,163 in five months, for acting as an advisor to Jamhuri Holdings in connection with the sale of Jamhuri's interest in Telkom. He further wanted to know why he was paid in person and not through his firm.
The last witness to appear before the Committee was Mr. Allan Wainaina, the Chief Finance Officer for Telkom Kenya Limited, who appeared on behalf of the CEO, Mr. Mugo Kibati. The Joint Committee wanted to know when Jamhuri Holdings injected USD 47 million into Telkom Kenya and how the funds were disbursed.
Mr. Wainaina told the Committee that the funding was meant to be disbursed on a 60:40 basis. However, as the Government was unable to inject its share of funding, Jamhuri injected both its portion and that of the Government's. The loans were disbursed and received on diverse dates between June 2016 and September 2017.
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