This archive report was first published on 13 August 2019.
Wendy Waeni, a 14-year-old gymnast and acrobat, has been at the center of a controversy surrounding her living conditions and school fees. Her former manager, Joe Mwangi, has now defended himself against allegations of being a rogue manager.
According to Mwangi, Wendy's mother is an alcoholic and misused the cash he had given her for school fees. He claimed that he had given Wendy's mother Sh100,000 in December last year to keep for her daughter's school fees, but she never replied to his text asking her to meet him to hand over everything concerning Wendy.
Mwangi also alleged that Wendy's mother was planning things without his knowledge, like the trip to Germany, and if things didn't go the way she wanted, she would look for him. He further claimed that the whole story had nothing to do with money but because of a phone, which he had taken away from Wendy because of some things she was doing with it.
During an interview with Chipukeezy, Mwangi's passport showed that he had only traveled to Rwanda and nowhere else, contradicting allegations that he had traveled out of the country with Wendy. He also denied that he had ever traveled out of the country with Wendy, saying that he had only traveled to Rwanda to perform for President Kagame.
President Kagame had given Wendy's mother Sh500,000 and as a manager to her daughter, he gave Mwangi Sh100,000 as a token from the president and told her to start a business. Mwangi claimed that Wendy hadn't performed for quite a while, the last time being two years ago, so where is this money supposed to come from? As an artist, you only get paid when you perform.
Chipukeezy was shocked by Joe's revelations and when asked his motive for the interview, he said that Wendy's mother misused her daughter's money and they were using him as a scapegoat. They need help but are looking for it in the wrong way.
