Several complaints have been shared regarding the conduct and high level of corruption against one Hillary Wachinga, the managing director of Kenya Re.
As a shareholder, I did complain to you a couple of months ago and no action seems to have been taken.
The valuation company hired, Ebony ltd, gave kick backs to Hillary of Ksh 7.5m and this can be collaborated through outright refusal to follow PPRA directives and alteration of scores by the evaluation committee under his directives.
He has committed so many offences including flauting the procurement law. Many cases of dissatisfied suppliers have complaints pending before PPRA and even going to the extent of failing to adhere to PPRA directives. Who is his man who is above the law?
He has never been called upon to record a statement regarding the attached allegations. Can you please take action or you have to wait until the Corporation sink?
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More Whistleblowers Expose Deeper Corruption, Mismanagement and Unethical Practices Under MD Hillary Wachinga Recent developments at Kenya Reinsurance Corporation continue to shine a stark light on management practices under Managing Director Hillary Wachinga. This comes in the wake of previous revelations where serious allegations of irregular appointments, age discrimination and financial mismanagement were exposed. New sources have now come forward to add more to these claims, pointing to deeper systemic issues within the corporation and its board’s failure to uphold governance standards. As reported earlier (http://bit.ly/4fBe4dK) Wachinga’s appointment, made against the backdrop of a court order barring such an action, has sparked concerns over both legal and ethical breaches. Critics argue that this rushed decision to appoint Wachinga not only circumvented judicial authority but has also perpetuated a toxic leadership culture at Kenya Re. Questionable staff transfers under Wachinga’s tenure, designed to demote competent employees and promote those with questionable credentials, remain a hot-button issue. A communications expert who was moved to the supply chain department without qualifications is just one example of how staff are being undermined and shuffled with no regard for merit or professional standards. Recent reports suggest that corruption within the corporation is only deepening. A particular focus is on the misuse of public funds through lavish overseas trips by top executives. The corporation’s officials, including Wachinga, the Corporation Secretary, and other directors are accused of excessive travel at the expense of Kenyan taxpayers. “Hi Nyakundi. The once prestigious company is on the precipice of capitulation to oblivion. You’re called upon to save the highly qualified staff from the current misogynist, corrupt, bipolar MD and the clueless board. 1. The board chairman is above the age recommended by Mwongozo, she is in her mid-80s! 2. The process for appointing the MD was utterly flawed. He was the risk manager in 2018 when the company was downgraded by AM Best under his very watch, the company lost business, so how did he convince the board he was suitable to steer the corporation yet he couldn’t manage the risk unit out of basic risk management practices as was noted by AM Best? 3. How did the MD get a score of 1 in the BSC and award himself a bonus of 24M last month? As per common scores shared by HR, there is no way he could genuinely score a 1, and how does an MD score way far better than the rest of his staff if the BSC is genuinely and professionally cascaded? Why is he refusing to pay us, the retired staff, our bonus yet corporation policy allows? The board and the rest of the staff laughed their way to the bank last month, but for those who worked and retired within the course of the year, we have to beg for our duly earned share. 4. He forced staff to contribute money to visit a children’s home in his village, despite otherwise advice from the president. He has been bringing his political connections to lecture staff in the name of the “winners mentality” program. This is all to market himself just like the mega CEO summit organized last month and cost the company over 100M. Why host a CEO yet he isn’t paying claims? One guest almost caused drama demanding his company be paid claims, he had to be whisked away before the rest of the guests could notice. Since he fondly taunts managers about how they aren’t known outside Kenya’s corridor yet they are about to retire, of course, they did have schemes like the CEO summit to market themselves… 5. Micromanagement is his way of expressing his traumatic upbringing. Every Monday from 6:40 AM it’s a ‘production meeting’. Tuesday from 7 AM is the KPI reporting meeting. Wednesday from 7 AM is the management meeting, and you can guess managers aren’t even thinking, they embark on debt collection. On Friday from 7 AM, another debt collection meeting so he can abuse managers and show interns how he has ‘homo erectus’, as he calls those older than him, as useless managers. 6. The corrupt MD has been cancelling tenders and insisting they only be awarded to the ‘big 4’ audit firms. He worked there, the rest you can join the dots. How a 40M tender was awarded to Strathmore, where the MD is a lecturer? To purportedly train managers on management principles. No advert was done, no justification for single sourcing was done as is required by public procurement regulations. 7. Most of the vacancies he insists they go to persons from ‘big 4’. Look out for the advert for Manager Internal Auditor, for example. For Manager Life, IRA had to intervene. 8. Most departments where there aren’t ethnically friendly persons don’t have assistant managers: Corporate Affairs (where staff were transferred and the department was left with a manager and a junior staff, so as to punish the widowed manager who refused MD’s immoral advances), Actuarial, Internal Audit, Subsidiary Coordination Office, Research Department, Customer Relations Unit, etc. Other departments have more than 3 assistant managers, e.g., Property, HR, International Business. 9. Most of the vacancies aren’t advertised internally or externally as is required by the company HR policies. Look out how Jennifer Mutinda was promoted and transferred to Uganda, Silvia Karimi moved to procurement and a week later to Zambia, why Ann Kasimu was demoted after acting for more than 3 years as Manager Credit Control, Rahab Kariuki demoted in the most inhumane way. How Gichuru was promoted, Joel Irungu, Benson Waibochi, Racheal Ngatune, James Gathogo, Mbaabu, etc., all assistant managers. James Mburu, Warui Muiruri, Lawrence King’ori, all managers. There are other staff who are equally and more qualified but zero adverts were done. How was Josephine Maina hired as Internal Auditor? Ah, wait a minute, 3 interns were confirmed in the Legal Department to apparently replace one lady who was due to retire. 10. Look out for the circumstances which led to the resignation of the Audit Manager Sammy Kaaria, Risk Manager Helen Okanga, ICT Manager George, Rahabu Kariuki, Hassan Omoroca, Vernon Lindava, General Manager Reinsurance Beth Nyaga, Silue, Ben Monda. The list is long. 11. The MD has become a member of Skyteam, even without approval as required. He has been away from the office for international money-making expeditions, among many unauthorized travels: the 2 weeks to Singapore, 2 weeks to Egypt, 3 weeks to Ethiopia, 2 weeks to Abidjan, 3 weeks to Kamala, etc. 12. A staff member (Brennan) was ‘transferred’ to a subsidiary in Abidjan, and how lucky? Paid daily per diem amounting to 8M in cash and normal monthly salary. If it’s a transfer, one should, as per HR policies, get normal salary and 50% of gross on a monthly basis. An ‘exchange program’ for two staff members between Kenya and Uganda, and each paid 2M in cash. And surprisingly… how the Subsidiary MD from Uganda was approved to work from Nairobi for a month and paid 11M per diem plus normal salary. 13. How the current Audit Manager got approval to work in Zambia for 2 weeks, Kampala for 2 weeks, in the company of an intern. Per HR policies, an intern or contract staff is not allowed to travel outside the country or attend a training outside Nairobi. How special is Josephine Maina, yet the department has qualified staff? Why would a manager travel to do clerical work whereas there are junior officers? 14. Two security officers, from the same village, were hired to replace another security officer from the same village. To the shock of the staff, one of the security officers came to collect his job offer letter while totally drunk. He reported to rehab, came back, and was transferred to the Risk Department, and the following week shipped to Kisumu to the Property Department. How an officer (K’owiti) with over 60 years found his way into the corporation. 15. A staff member was hired, one Ekra Mwangi, who reported to the MD’s office as assistant PA. After it quickly surfaced that she was a niece to the HR Manager, she was quickly ‘seconded’ to KDIC. So why was she hired? Another nephew to the HR Manager quickly resigned from IT. 16. How did the MD see it proper to hire a bodyguard, fully paid for by the corporation?”
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News
Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Managing Director Hillary Wachinga Struggles to Defend Serious Allegations of Irregular Appointments and Discrimination as Staff Complain Over Governance Standards
October 28, 2024 – 14:10
DM
Shocking revelations have come to light regarding the leadership at Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Limited a once-respected giant in the reinsurance sector founded in 1970 and serving a vast network of companies across numerous countries.
Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Managing Director Hillary Wachinga
There are allegations swirling that the current Managing Director Hillary Wachinga is notorious for engaging in irregular appointments, age discrimination and questionable financial practices.
A comprehensive email circulating among media outlets outlines instances of improper staff transfers, targeting competent employees and a notable failure to address critical operational challenges that jeopardize the corporation’s mission.
One of the central issues raised is the irregularity surrounding Wachinga’s appointment.
Reports indicate that the decision was made in haste, circumventing a court order that sought to prevent the board from proceeding with the appointment until the case concerning former Managing Director Jadiah Mwarania was resolved.
This not only undermines the rule of law but also raises questions about the board’s adherence to ethical governance practices.
“Dear members of the fourth estate/media fraternity.
As we put this piece down, we are dismayed, disgruntled, and extremely sad by the turn of events. The information we are providing here is factual, and we would be grateful for a very wide circulation with a view to rescuing Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Limited from a downfall.
As you may be aware, Kenya Re is 60% owned by the Government of Kenya and 40% listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange. As commonly referred to as Kenya Re, there has been a series of saddest moments within Kenya Re that has crippled the Corporation. This is happening mainly through actions and decisions that are not in the best interest of the Corporation and its shareholders. The issues are stated as follows:
1.The current managing director was appointed irregularly and hurriedly to defeat the rule of law. There was a court order barring the board not to make the appointment until a case filed by the former Managing Director, Jadiah Mwarania, was heard and determined. The appointment was hurriedly made when the court order had just lapsed, and the lawyers of the petitioner were on their way from court to serve the chairman of the board.
2.During the recruitment process, there was an outright discrimination against interested internal candidates who were not recommended to the board for consideration on grounds of age. Discrimination against age is prohibited under Chapter 7 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, and this must be evoked to give justice to the internal candidates not shortlisted on the basis of age, including GMs namely Ms. Michael Mbeshi, Jaqueline Njui, and Beth Nyaga.
3.Very shameful that the eventual appointee was not on the initial list of shortlisted candidates, and his name was only added after political lobbying, which eventually saw his name forwarded to the directors for the final interviews.
4.When the current Managing Director, Hillary Wachinga, took over, he transferred staff in a manner that was to punish some staff or promote incompetence. One such example was Ms. Sylvia Karimi, the former Assistant Manager Corporate Affairs, who was transferred to the Supply Chain department. The subject lady is a communications and PR specialist and has zero qualifications in supply chain management. This is against the requirements under the relevant procurement laws in Kenya. It is actually against the PPRA Act. We have every reason to suspect that the Managing Director did this intentionally to use the said Ms. Karimi to advance his own interests through her at the Supply Chain department. This action has led to a slowdown in procurement processes since the only legal person who can sign relevant documentation is the manager only.
5.That staff who were extremely competent in their areas of work were transferred to other functions hurriedly, as a way of punishing them. Such examples include Ms. Emily Mbogo, a very competent accountant who was transferred to the Property department as a premises officer from Credit Control. Another example is one Ms. Charity Nkonge, a highly experienced executive assistant, who was unceremoniously moved from the managing director’s office to become a premises officer. In addition, one Ms. Jenifer Sigei, a highly qualified supply chain practitioner, was transferred to the administration department. This was all in a bid to destroy their careers and probably in the hope that they were to get frustrated and hence submit their resignations.
6.Unethically, one Mr. Brian Njoka, a former premises officer, was alleged to be implicated through mischievous assertions that he received kickbacks from a supplier. This was pure malice and led to the young man being depressed and eventually resigning from the Corporation. It is against the public Ethics Act on discrimination, bullying, and also the Constitution of Kenya and the Kenya Re policy on harassment.
7.The Managing Director has become a member of ‘sky team’. He has been on overseas trips nearly 75% of the time per month. This is against the recent government directive that directors and CEOs should not be outside the country for more than 45 days per year. So far, he has exceeded this and he is on a travel spree even where technical officers are expected to attend the conferences or meetings.
8.Painfully, the managing director, Corporation Secretary, and two directors from the head office from Nairobi are directors at Kenya Re subsidiaries located in Ivory Coast, Zambia, and Uganda. Each quarter, they have been traveling for between 6-8 nights in each subsidiary in the name of board meetings, yet it is embezzlement of public funds. Each quarter, the Corporation is spending about Ksh 8 million on per diem allowances for the managing director, corporation secretary, and two directors each appointed from HQ for subsidiaries. This is happening when the subsidiaries are making significant losses and at a time they are required to be recapitalized since they have been making losses. A good example is the Zambia Subsidiary, whose capital is now below the Pension and Investment Authority’s (the regulator) minimum capital requirements. The Corporation is now required to recapitalize. This is very unfortunate and disturbing considering the investment the Corporation has put in virtual meeting platforms including Cisco conferencing as well as Microsoft Teams.
9.There has been an unexplained influx of employed staff on contract and on internship too. These officers are not recruited competitively but rather based on whom you know. It is suspected that one officer, Ms. Maina, deployed at the Internal Audit department, is a relative of the managing director. This is an outright abuse of office and against provisions contained in relevant laws, including the Constitution of Kenya and Public Ethics Officers Act.
10.Shamelessly, the managing director has been abusing staff and managers openly and issuing threats of sacking in every meeting. This is even after he delays in approving claims, which if they are paid, would unlock outstanding premiums from the market. At the moment, many brokers and insurance companies are unhappy because their claims are still pending in the managing director’s inbox for approval. Worse still, he keeps referring claims to risk and compliance, which is significantly slowing our compliance with the service delivery charter. Instead of sitting down to work, he is busy collecting per diem on every international trip that arises. As we write this article, there are many pending claims that he has not approved in the system.
11.The managing director is not only incompetent but also threatens nearly all managerial staff through verbal abuses. Abuses are his order of the day. He is fond of asking staff ‘whom they think he is’ and who he knows in the corridors of political connections. This is indeed sad and unfortunate for a public office of Kenya Re’s stature.
12.The managing director convinced the board to carry out a forensic audit. PWC was hired at a contract value of Kenya Shillings twenty-nine million approximately. They were onboarded with no clear forensic audit deliverable and have been used to harass managers and staff with purported imaging of laptops and interviews. They are literally fishing from everywhere in a desperate move to implicate some staff. As we speak, more than 14 laptops belonging to some select individuals, perceived to be enemies of the system, have been imaged. The process was recklessly and maliciously done, leaving critical functions such as manager finance, manager claims, manager property, and manager legal out of the initial targeted departments, yet they pose the most risk. The process is a pure abuse of public office and must be confronted openly.
13.The managing director has turned Kenya Re into his own kiosk. Even when he travels, he leaves no one in an acting capacity. Any approval being sought must be scanned to him. This has resulted in delays and worsening service delivery. He questions almost every payment, and this has significantly affected service delivery. He simply has trust issues and cannot deliver for a sophisticated organization like Kenya Re.
14.The managing director, working closely with the Manager in charge of human resources, tagged SCAC, the State Corporations Advisory Council, in an illegal process of attempting to restructure Kenya Re and making unpopular proposals to force staff to exit from the corporation through a budgeted send-off budget. This was done illegally through a workshop between staff drawn from the HR department and SCAC, who retreated to Naivasha to draft the illegal proposal. Indeed, instead of engaging departments through a collaborative process, managers were asked to send their departmental key objectives with a timeline of not more than 30 minutes. This again is an abuse of office and does not reflect accountability and transparency as envisioned in the principles of governance and national values. The managing director should be tasked to show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
15.The office of manager life department is yet to be filled despite the appointed consultant undertaking interviews and making recommendations to the board on the top five candidates to be interviewed. The managing director simply and in a very insensitive manner indicated that the list was ‘non-responsive’. This is despite the fact that the consultant was given a clear job description and desired qualifications. Four members of staff at Kenya Re who were shortlisted and were to sit for the final interviews are still tormented and feel discriminated against. The managing director appears to be conflicted and wants to dictate a candidate for each position that falls vacant. Unless immediate action is taken, the Corporation will be adversely impacted on performance.
16. In a nutshell, this person is not fit to hold public office going by his conduct and how he has treated staff. He must be suspended and an investigation launched on the illegal acts and commissions he has committed and continued to.
Right now, many staff are under depressants because they are harrassed, called names and even belittled in presence of other employees in every meeting.
This has negatively affected staff morale and motivation. Complaints have been shared with the board chairman and IRA but it appears the managing director is ‘untouchable’ since nothing has happened so far.
Please circulate widely for the justice of the staff at Kenya Re.
He was rumoured also to be a very close ally of the embattled DP; that’s why he has been so powerful, intimidating all senior staff and inciting junior staff against their seniors.
He has fired several HODs and replaced them with his cronies. The ones fired include GM Property, Michael Mbeshi; Manager ICT, George Njuguna; Manager Research and Development, Martin Mati (who has an active case that he has sued the company); GM Finance, Jaqueline Njui; Manager Audit, Sammy Kaaria; and Brian Njoka, forced out from being the Assistant Manager Credit Control to a position they termed ‘fancy,’ and eventually they were forced to resign due to financial incompetence.
As we speak, Kenya Re is headed towards ruin.
There has been a mass exodus of competent and qualified staff who have refused to be bullied into submission and are planning to seek alternative employment while others have already left the corporation.
We kindly request you to help us save the institution by giving this matter the attention it requires.
Cases and reports against him have also been forwarded to EACC but he always bribes his way.
He has also pocketed the board who have completely refused to listen to the hueand cry of the staff.
He recently flouted Procurement regulations and processes to send senior staff on a compulsory LDP training at Strathmore where it is believed the company will pay 40million and he is supposed to receive a cut because he is a Lecturer there
He has colluded with a staff called Lucy Kagwiria who had been a staff on the company’s West Africa subsidiary where she is suing the company to pay her 67 million which it is believed they will share. She is currently the closest manager to him yet he has sued the Corporation. She is the most favorite manager and is often assigned all projects and assignments that will generate a loot for the CEO”
The issues surrounding Kenya Re underline a need for an immediate and thorough investigation into the management practices and governance of the corporation.
Stakeholders, including government officials and the public, must advocate for transparency and accountability to restore confidence in this vital institution.
