Caption: Jeff "Jeffa" Kiboro (left). Son of prominent contractor and owner of Savannah Cement Mr. Don Woods Kiboro. High voltage reports reaching the Cyprian Nyakundi newsdesk indicate that a bill incurred by amongst others Jeff Kiboro that had been circulating around social-media showing individuals who had absconded paying bills at the high-end Soho's Night Club in Westlands was settled by the father Mr. Don Woods Kiboro to avoid further embarrassment and scrutiny into their businesses.
Despite the Indian owner Pili Jhite insisting that the list was stolen from his office by a character by the name of Kevin Kivuvani, sources indicate that this was a rehearsed script and orchestrated attempt aimed at tarnishing the images of select members of the club, especially Kiboro who is considered loud, arrogant and repulsive. Because the list comprised of names that were not following a consistent numbering order.
"Jeffa" as he is commonly referred to as in Nairobi social circles is said to have a disgusting foul mouth, insulting anyone he deems to be financially inferior than him or his family. The friends who tolerate him are his bootlickers who hang around him because he buys them alcohol, and thus they can endure his insults. In Nairobi today, men have become the whores who trail other men for free booze. Many say his foul mouth the reason his wife left him, despite a grand wedding that cost over 20million shillings in 2009.
But who is this Don Wood Kiboro? Apparently he's a major contractor in Nairobi, who has done business with nearly every senior Government official. His name is all over dubious scandals and we will only highlight two that caught our attention.
Inquiry into allegations of corruption by M/s Don Woods Company Ltd in the award and execution of a contract for the construction of the Kenya Pipeline Company Headquarters in Nairobi, investigations revealed that two former (KPC) Managing Directors engaged various consultants for the project without following laid down procurement procedures. One of them also awarded a tender for additional works for the construction of two extra floors of KPC Headquarters at a cost of Kshs. 340,972,850.00 to Don Woods Company without subjecting it to open tender and in total disregard to procurement regulations. George Okungu is the former MD of KPC in question.
The file was forwarded to the Attorney General on 4th January 2007 but the then AG Amos Wako returned it back to Kenya Anti Corruption Commission for further investigations to be carried out on 30th March of the same year. Using this windfall of over 300 million to build virtually nothing, Mr. Kiboro built the Savannah Cement factory in a bid to launder the looted taxpayers money.
As if robbing from the National Government wasn't enough, a report by the Controller and Auditor General for the year ending 2014 indicates that The Governor of Kiambu irregularly paid M/s Don Woods Company 3,127,200.00 for rehabilitating select roads in the county, but the company was single-sourced contrary to procurement regulations and the Bill of Quantities (BQ) supporting the payment was not signed. At the time of the audit, the road in question Hospital-St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church Road was still in a dilapidated condition despite repairs and in addition, no acceptance committee certificate of completion was produced to show that the work was completed before payments were made.
Worth noting is that Prime Minister Raila Odinga's wife Ida was a chief guest at Jeff Kiboro's wedding a few years back, synchronising with our earlier theme that politicians use the mainstream media to deceive Kenyans that they bat for different teams, but reality is they all eat from the same bowl.
The only problem is that media in Kenya is so incompetent that they never pick details and connect them to the grand scheme of things. They simply consume news passively and never dig deeper to connect the dots. Reason why a simple news report of a divorce case between former Kenya Power MD Samuel Gichuru and his late wife Njeri was the basis of an international arrest warrant issued to both him and former Finance Minister Chris Okemo, yet no media had initially connected the dots.
When media houses started employing socialites, third-rate musicians or Tusker Project Fame rejects into a serious profession, they really compromised the integrity of journalism standards in this country. For instance more scrutiny should have been done on everyone that appeared on the Soho's List of Shame as the paper trail will unearth important information. How does a journalist see George Muhoho's son, a blood relative of the President of the Republic of Kenya, and not make a follow-up?
Can't Caroline Mutoko and the other mediocre editors of her ilk move from requesting resumes and instead head hunt talented writers overflowing in Kenya? How do you expect a good writer or journalist to send their resume to a mediocre editor? Get off your high-horses and scout for talent.