Organiser of first Devolution Conference yet to be paid

Kenya: An event management firm that was contracted to fundraise for the first Devolution Conference that was held in Kwale last year is crying foul due to unpaid dues.

Moneva Consulting is yet to recover over Sh3 million that it was to be paid for the conference that took place at the Leisure Lodge Hotel, even as the second conference kicks off Tuesday in Kisumu.

Moneva had entered into a contract with the Council of Governors for event management to raise funds in form of sponsorship pledges in support of the conference.

All the funds raised were channeled to Leisure Lodge by the respective sponsors to be managed by the hotel, with the consultants getting 16 percent of the total funds raised.

The firm helped raise Sh15, 526,083, of which they were to be paid Sh2, 484,173. They also supplied 1,800 branded Kikoys that cost Sh1.8 million. Only Sh750, 000 was paid to them by the CoG.

The directors of Moneva have since petitioned Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru to intervene.

CoG Acting CEO Jacqueline Mogeni says that already, Moneva has received the Sh750,000 and that the council had unsuccessfully tried to secure the payment from Leisure lodge.

“You are aware that we then wrote to Mutua (Director Leisure lodge) seeking settlement of your outstanding amount of Sh3, 775,763 via the letter dated December 3, 2014. In all our deliberations and documentation, the Council of Governors was not to make any payments to you as it was not in our budget. We regret that the payment has taken this long to be settled but the funds to settle this amount have to be drawn from Leisure Lodge,” Ms Mogeni replied.

In the letter copied to Waiguru, the CoG said it had referred the matter to their legal advisor to provide guidance.

Monday, Leisure Lodge Executive Director John Mutua denied owing any money to Moneva. “We don’t owe them any money. Why are they rushing to the media and not to court?”

Mutua refused to discuss further on the dispute saying both the CoG and Moneva know what to do ‘if indeed we owe them anything’. 

Among the sponsors of last year’s conference were the Standard Group, Kenya Commercial Bank, Cooperative Bank, Equity Bank, Safaricom limited, Capital Markets Authority and East African Breweries limited.