President William Ruto (main picture). Inset (from left): David Ndii, Nick Ruto, Adil Khawaja and Mwende Gatabaki.
Adil Khawaja and Mwende Gatabaki, two professionals in separate fields, have for a few years shared one thing in common – they have close ties, either in their personal capacity or through family, to President William Ruto and other powerful figures in the Kenya Kwanza administration.
On September 21 giant telco Safaricom announced that it has been hired, alongside other institutions, to develop an integrated healthcare information technology system, a move that revealed a second thing that Mr Khawaja and Ms Gatabaki have in common.
Both individuals are central cast members in one of the biggest plays that any Kenyan government has ever attempted to stage – use of technology in the provision of affordable healthcare to all citizens.
Adil Arshed Khawaja.
Mwende Gatabaki, an information technology professional, who is also the wife of David Ndii, one of President William Ruto’s economic advisors.
Safaricom has partnered with Konvergenz Network Solutions Limited and Apeiro Limited in a contract to provide the IHTS for the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme.
Each of the three firms will contribute to the Sh104.8 billion needed to implement, maintain and support the IHTS system over the next 10 years based on their shareholding.
Mr Khawaja and Ms Gatabaki are set to reap from the Sh104.8 billion IHTS development being led by Safaricom, where the former is board chairperson.
'Above board'
Despite having close links to the President and big decision makers in his administration, both Mr Khawaja and Ms Gatabaki have maintained that their involvement is above board, and that there was no conflict of interest or favouritism in their service provision to the project.
Mr Khawaja is currently the Board Chairperson at Safaricom and the managing partner at Dentons Hamilton Harrison & Mathews (HHM) where President Ruto’s son also works. He is a longtime friend of the President.
While the deals are unlikely to contribute to Mr Khawaja’s earnings as board chair at Safaricom, they could give his earnings as a partner at HHM a significant boost.
Ms Gatabaki is an information technology professional, who once served as ICT manager for seven years at the Kenya Tea Development Agency. She is also the wife of David Ndii, one of the President’s economic advisors.
Despite being distinguished professionals in their fields, their connection to shot callers in the Kenya Kwanza administration has drawn attention to their respective roles in multibillion-shilling deals under the UHC programme.
In the UHC deal, Safaricom is represented by its long-time legal representatives Kaplan & Stratton while Apeiro is being represented by Anjarwalla & Khanna (ALN Kenya). Meanwhile, HHM is representing Konvergenz.
“We gave some preliminary advice to Konvergenz. They are a big technology firm that has done many large projects that have been successful,” said Mr Khawaja.
Deeper connection
While Mr Khawaja said that HHM only gave some preliminary advice to Konvergenz, records at the Business Registration Service indicate that the law firm’s involvement with the firm runs much deeper.
Konvergenz Network Solutions Ltd was incorporated on April 2, 2014 with Asha Abdi Sheikh and Mohamed Abdi Yunis as equal owners, each with 50 shares. Abdullahi Abdi Sheikh was listed as a director with no shares.
In 2023, significant changes to the Konvergenz Network Solutions’ ownership were triggered, creating a complex structure that made it difficult to know the firm’s beneficial owners.
The new ownership structure included four senior lawyers as shareholders in holding companies that co-own Konvergenz Network Solutions, an indication that they could be holding shares in trust for other individuals who want to remain anonymous.
Mr Sheikh, who was initially a director with no stocks, became a part owner holding five shares in his own name. Pitfield Auto Limited was also allocated five shares. The firm was incorporated on July 3, 2023.
Dorothy Chepkoech Kipkenda is listed as the sole shareholder and director of Pitfield Auto Ltd. Ms Kipkenda, a former senior legal assistant at the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Company, is a lawyer and the managing partner at Kipkenda & Company Advocates. She holds all 1,000 shares in the Pitfield Auto Ltd.
A new firm, Konvergenz Holding Company Ltd, was incorporated on May 17, 2023 and allocated 90 percent of the shareholding of Konvergenz Network Solutions.
Mr Sheikh and Issa Sheikh Mohamed are the biggest shareholders in Konvergenz Holding Company Ltd. They each hold 500 shares.
Commtech Consortium Ltd (403 shares) and Galva Investments Ltd (209 shares) are the other shareholders in Konvergenz Holding Company Ltd. Commtech Consortium Ltd was incorporated on March 23, 2023.
Lawyers Deborah Linet Ontiri (eight shares) and Peter Jr Okaalet (two shares) are listed as the owners of Commtech Consortium. Both lawyers work for Hamilton Harrison & Mathews, alongside Adil Khawaja.
Mr Okaalet is a partner in the law firm’s corporate, commercial and real estate department.
Mr Ontiri is a senior associate working under Mr Okaalet in the corporate, commercial and real estate department. Elvis Charo Kitsao is listed as a director in Commtech Consortium, but with no shares.
Galva Investments was incorporated on April 14, 2023.
Another lawyer, Nuru Ahmed Said, holds all 1,000 shares in Galva Investments. Ms Said is the managing partner at Hassan Madowo Said (HMS) Advocates. She sits on the Konvergenz Holding Company Board to represent Galva Investments’ interests.
Another Hamilton Harrison & Mathews lawyer, Nancy Gitau Waithera, sits on the Konvergenz Holding Company Ltd Board as an alternate director to Mr Okaalet. They represent Commtech Consortium’s interests on the Board.
Issa Sheikh Mohamed and Abdullahi Abdi Sheikh are the other board members of Konvergenz Holding Company Ltd. They are also the only directors of Konvergenz Network Solutions, the firm that does the actual work on the ground.
Mr Khawaja added that the UHC programme was already in place even before he was appointed the chairman of Safaricom.
“This programme was started by former President Uhuru Kenyatta and it is only now that we are seeing its implementation. A lot of background work had been done for the last two years,” said the lawyer.
Majority shareholder
Apeiro is the majority shareholder in the consortium with a 59.55 percent shareholding while Safaricom and Konvergenz have 22.56 percent and 17.89 percent stakes respectively.
Apeiro, which is registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has established Apeiro Kenya Technologies Ltd to undertake the assignment. Ms Gatabaki is listed as a director of the firm.
“Apeiro approached me to set up their local office because they are based in the UAE. They wanted someone to lead their digital project here in Kenya,” said Ms Gatabaki.
Ms Gatabaki says that this is not the first time that she is working on government projects, having also worked with the Jubilee administration led by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“I have always worked with governments. In 2014 I was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to chair the Presidential Digital Transformation of Government,” she said.
She said that Apeiro and its consortium partners have already started executing the project.
