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{
    "id": 512381,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/512381/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 438,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Keynan",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 41,
        "legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
        "slug": "adan-keynan"
    },
    "content": "The first privatisation was in 2007. The second recapitalisation was in December just a few days to the 2012 General Election. They made a commitment of Kshs 4.5 billion in order to have Telkom Kenya remain afloat without budgetary support. The key Government agencies were not involved. It is because of this that Treasury attempted to make some payments of about Kshs 2.5million by 31st Dec 2012. Telkom Kenya and other shareholders were given an open ended letter which later on contributed to the finer deletion of shares worth Kshs30 billion. This was a programme that was well choreographed by senior technocrats at the Treasury to ensure that taxpayers lost their shares in this company to an entity todate which we have not found out the ownership. The shareholding that has remained mysterious is called Alcazar Capital Limited. Initially we were told that this company is headquartered in Dubai. After carrying out due diligence and investigation, we realised that that company does not exist in United Arab Emirates (UAE). On the face of it, that is the company that eventually--- It was initially alleged that, that company was in consortium with France Telecom. Eventually, it emerged that nobody knew its identity, shareholders or even the existence of that company called Alcazar. As we debate, we do not know who owns Alcazar Capital Limited, where it is headquartered or whether it exists. It is because of this that eventually the Government of Kenya was forced---France Telecom agreed to write off shares worth Kshs33 billion. You can calculate. If France Telecom was willing to write off shares worth Kshs33 billion in exchange for a shareholding of 9 per cent, you can compute. If 9 per cent is equivalent to Kshs33 billion then what about 100 per cent? Hon. Deputy Speaker, through such calculations, we realised that the shareholding of the Government of Kenya in Telkom Kenya reduced from 49 per cent to 40 per cent because of the debt that has been written by France Telecom. The Government of Kenya found itself in a very awkward position. This scenario was manmade in the sense that, firstly, the financial consultant who did this was an employee or somebody who was within the reach of the Treasury. This is an issue I will explain later. That is why we believe that Telkom Kenya, which is an offshoot of the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunication Corporation, is not doing well in terms of network outreach and other things. They are unable to secure 10 per cent of the market, what Safaricom Limited dominates. What do they do with the entire infrastructure? Hon. Deputy Speaker, the other thing we realised is that valuation of the entire Telkom Kenya and its assets has been done. Therefore, nobody has the asset register of Telkom Kenya. When we tried to inquire into this aspect, nobody was willing to tell us how much land Telkom Kenya owns. We are aware that in Nairobi alone, there are several prime properties that were previously owned by the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunication Corporation, which were later on transferred to Telkom Kenya. Therefore, in the absence of evidence of any valuation carried out, it was difficult for us to ascertain the company’s exact asset value. Hopefully, as a result of our recommendations, somebody will eventually unearth the truth. As a result of the rights of 33 per cent shareholding in Telkom, which resulted in a further dilution of 9 per cent shares, the Government of Kenya shareholding reduced from 49 per cent to 40 per cent. Notwithstanding this scenario, the Government of Kenya committed itself to pay a further Kshs4.9 billion to enable Telkom Kenya to remain afloat. However, this was not done. Eventually, the Government of Kenya lost a further The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}