William Kipruto Chelashaw This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. How not to run a firm

   www.eastandard.net/headlines/n - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/20/2004   Last Visited: 3/20/2004

   Other people can build companies, but William Kipruto Chelashaw was fated to run them down. Indeed, everything he touched in corporate life almost always ended up on the deathbed.
   
   This is the verdict that was reached by the government auditors who were commissioned to investigated Chelashaw's tenure at the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation (KTDC) early last year.
   
   For a man who is generally credited with having presided the collapse of such parastatals like the Kenya National Assurance Company (Knac) in the mid 1990s, the verdict was hardly shocking.
   
   In a luck-lustre career spanning over a decade, the report merely confirmed Chelashaw as a member of an extra-ordinary league of big Kahunas who were perennially shifted from one parastatal to the next only to leave them deeply wounded than they had found them.
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   Chelashaw and KTDC are not alone.
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   At the time when Moi appointed Chelashaw on August 1996, the company was in the middle of an extensive privatisation programme.
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   While contributing to a debate on Sixth Public Investment Committee Report, Dr Oyondi pointed out that a parliamentary watchdog had on several occasions previously recommended that Chelashaw should be banned from holding public office.
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   Defending Chelashaw over his record at Knac, assistant minister Elijah Sumbeiwo said:"It is public knowledge that when he went there, it was already on its knees."
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   Dr Oyondi also made allegations that: "He[Chelashaw] has a record, he has stolen money from four other parastatals, putting them in serious financial crisis."
   ...
   Chelashaw denied the allegations the following day terming Dr Oyondi's comment as "not only extremely defamatory to me, but is also the height of irresponsibility and utter mischief-making. I challenge [him] to repeat his statements outside Parliament if he is man enough and can substantiate them."
   
   Chelashaw was appointed to head Kenya National Assurance Company on September 27, 1994. Before that he was the CEO of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the securities regulator.
   
   Though Chelashaw can claim that he was handed lemons in the name of KTDC to run in 1996, he hardly made lemonade out of it as the special audit report by the Inspector of Corporations reveals.
   
   Instead, what he made at KTDC - as the audit report claims-was a bitter concoction laced with managerial blunder, callowness and large-scale embezzlement of public funds.
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   On maturity of each of the above fixed deposits, Chelashaw did not pass any information to R M Kiattu, the general manager (Finance). Accordingly, these transactions were never recorded in the books of KTDC leading to suspicion that Chelashaw has embezzled the funds.
   ...
   On maturity of the deposits which had grown to Sh27.4 million, Chelashaw instructed (without formal approval of the company) the managing director of Daima Bank to pay Gideon Ndambuki Sh18.5 million through lawyers Kipkorir, Titoo and Kiara Advocates and the balance was renewed.
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   On maturity of the second FDR which had accumulated to Sh27.9 million in June 2001, Chelashaw again illegally instructed Daima Bank to pay Sh19.5 million to Church Road Development Company. He also asked the bank to pay KTDC the remaining Sh8.5 million, but by the time the company had already made a similar cheque payment to Church Road. The balance of Sh9.9 million from the two FDRs were rolled over and remained at Daima Bank until today.
   
   With regard to the fixed deposits at Euro Bank amounting to Sh51.7 million, Chelashaw kept on rolling them over until they had accumulated to Sh61.7 million.
   
   "On January 2, 2003 which apparently was a public holiday, the bank wrote to [Chelashaw] informing him that they had matured÷and rolled them over for another three months."
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   A closer look at the bank and loan transactions reveal that Chelashaw was acting in complete disregard of the laid down corporate procedures, Treasury directives and his board of directors.
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   Chelashaw, the report notes, refused to either give his board information or seek their opinions in major investment decisions that he personally championed.
   
   "One such case in point is where the Chief Executive approved loans to well connected individuals in defiance of the Board's laid down procedures," says the report.
   
   A case in point was the board and management's opposition to Chelashaw's decision to invest Sh109 million to take up a rights issue in the Hilton Hotel.
   
   Even for his failings as a manager, Chelashaw is also said to have breached his terms of service. While his contract as Managing Director expired on August 7, 1999, it was renewed twice with the last one expiring on August 2001.
   
   After that it was never renewed. This means that he had been working without a contract between September 2001 and January 2003. His terms were also never spelt out either by the government or the board.
   
   "In particular, in addition to Sh10,000 per month paid to him as entertainment allowance, the Managing Director was reimbursed Sh2.8 million between 1997 and 2001 as entertainment allowance," says the report. His benefits were never taxed. In addition, he held an outstanding imprest of Sh3.4 million and a temporary salary advances amounting to Sh1.1 million.
   
   The recommendation of the Inspector General of Corporations was that Chelashaw be sacked and be held responsible for loss of money to Euro Bank.

2. 2. Tourism’s Achilles’ heel - Business - News - NetAfrika.com

   www.netafrika.com/home/article - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/1/2005   Last Visited: 12/26/2005

   But a section of the board that is aligned to him argue that the rot at the KTDC began under the watch of successive chief officers including William Chelashaw and Douglas Odette , and that Nzoka only inherited the mess.
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   The report accused former CEO (Chelashaw) of effecting the order without the authority of his board or involving his management.
   
   The Sh100 million was part of the proceeds from the sale of Milimani Hotels amounting to Sh48.5 million. On maturity of the deposits, Chelashaw instructed (without formal approval of the company) payment of Sh18.5 million to the then Cabinet minister Gideon Ndambuki through Kipkorir, Titoo and Kiara Advocates.
   ...
   Chelashaw, the report notes refused to either give his board information or seek their opinions in major investment decisions that he personally championed.

3. 3. www.eastandard.net

   www.eastandard.net/mags/fs/new - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/2/2005   Last Visited: 8/2/2005

   But a section of the board that is aligned to him argue that the rot at the KTDC began under the watch of successive chief officers including William Chelashaw and Douglas Odette - and that Nzoka only inherited the mess.
   ...
   The report accused former CEO (Chelashaw) of effecting the order without the authority of his board or involving his management.
   
   The Sh100 million was part of the proceeds from the sale of Milimani Hotels amounting to Sh48.5 million. On maturity of the deposits, Chelashaw instructed (without formal approval of the company) payment of Sh18.5 million to the then Cabinet minister Gideon Ndambuki through Kipkorir, Titoo and Kiara Advocates.
   ...
   Chelashaw, the report notes refused to either give his board information or seek their opinions in major investment decisions that he personally championed.