Good riddance to youth fund board

The resignation of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund board members, whose terms was to end on Monday, was a face-saving gimmick since their contracts were not going to be renewed anyway, it has now been established.

The board members realised they were fighting a losing battle – that has stretched for eight months – against Youth and Sports minister Hellen Sambili. The board, which was chaired by Ms Hellen Tombo, first suspended Mr Wario in March this year over corruption allegations and sacked him two months later.

President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga are said to have been urged by a group of elders from Mr Wario’s northern Kenya region to have him reinstated. The board members, together with fund’s finance and administration manager Ture Boru who resigned last Friday, have cited political interference as their reason for calling it quits.

After the elders allegedly met the President and the PM, Mr Wario is said to have been invited to State House where he authored a report that was later handed over to Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura. In the 16-page report, Mr Wario accused the board of forcing him to enter into a Sh300 million agreement with a Canadian NGO Enablis Entrepreneurial Network illegally.

He also said the fund, through the board’s approval, also hired public relations firm Skywest Media for a monthly fee of Sh440,000 through single sourcing. He added that there were attempts by the board to commit the fund to an agreement with a company called Idea Factory for the construction of Digital Villages for Sh50 million irregularly.

He also accused the board of demanding to sanction, by single sourcing, the buying of Chinese motorcycles, contrary to the Public Procurement Act. It is after the report was handed over to the President and the PM that Prof Sambili was instructed to reinstate Mr Wario. The move was met with protests from the board, which even dared the government to revoke its appointment.

However, government decided to let the board to continue serving in the multi-billion fund until their contracts end on Monday. But in a move likely to be seen as avoiding impending embarrassment, the board met last week and decided to quit.

In their statement, the board members said that they made the decision to call it a day following recent events at the youth fund, including the return of Mr Wario.