MP questions source of enormous amounts of gold

By Martin Mutua

Fafi MP Elias Bare Shill, who triggered a parliamentary investigation, questioned the source of the huge amounts of gold exported.

Mr Shill said two companies, Skyhawk International Limited and Ushindi Exports, are allegedly exporting 1,200kg of gold bars every month while the country only produces 50kg of gold per year.

Ushindi shipped out gold bars with a custom value of Sh3.1 billion between January and May while Skyhawk exported gold bars worth Sh3.4 billion.

The documents further indicate that in January alone, Ushindi exported 164.44kg of gold with a custom value of Sh657 million while in February they exported 169.308kg worth a custom value of Sh659 million.

In March, Ushindi are said to have exported 153.9kg of gold, which translates to Sh576 million, while Skyhawk in January exported 216.7kg valued at Sh862 million

In February, Skyhawk is said to have exported 116.1kg of gold worth Sh455million while in March, they exported 195.3kg, which is valued at Sh729 million.

In April, the same company is said to have exported 216.7kg of gold bars valued at Sh717 million.

Majority shareholder

And the total amount exported so far, according to the documents, amounts to 929.1kg of gold amounting to Sh3.4 billion.

According to the documents, which are set to be tabled before the two House committees that are investigating the matter, in May of this year alone, the two companies transited US$ 5,150,000 (about Sh437 million) in cash through their officials, Sunil K Vaya and Bhupendra Gordhandas.

Also appearing for the Skyhawk company is a Vishal Rasiklal and a Jitendra Chandulal.

But according to records at the Registrar of Companies, Ushindi Export’s directors are Arvindkumar Pattni, who has one share, and Rameshkumar Vithaldas Gagada, with a majority shareholding of two.

On the other hand, the directors of Skyhawk International Limited, according to the Registrar of Companies, is a Frank Ng’ang’a Gikonyo who has majority shareholding of 100 shares and a Dhanek Vishal Rasiklal who has 50 shares.

Exports to UAE

The documents also indicate that in 2010, Skyhawk exported to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) gold weighing 1.4 million kilogrammes valued at Sh3.7 billion, while Ushindi exported 866,682kg valued at Sh2.3 billion to the same country.