Elke Kurz, a 61-year-old German national and mother of two, has accused Mshenga Ruwa, a political advisor to Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani, of orchestrating a scheme that resulted in her losing Sh2 million.
Mr. Mshenga is reportedly a known wheeler-dealer within Kwale and Mombasa and is said to have used businessman Richard Onsongo to con the unsuspecting German national.
The devastating ordeal took place in 2023 when Kurz landed in Kenya with plans to settle and invest along the Kenyan coast.
According to Ms. Kurz, her plan, together with her business partner, Yusuf Salim, was to build a beach hotel in Diani, only to be conned in a well-orchestrated plan by Mshenga and his associates.
To sell more hope to her as they continued extorting other small amounts, they ensured that the construction works started in June 2023, but behind the scenes, goons were organised to vandalise the whole project.
“I came to Kenya to begin a new life in Kenya after moving from Germany. Together with my friend Yusuf Ali wanted to build a beach restaurant, and we got contacts for Governor Fatuma Achani’s political advisor, who claimed he would help us. We got the permit to build the hotel at Diani Beach, which is a public beach. We began the construction in June of 2023, but our restaurant was brought down by goons at night even though we had a business license,” she explained.
Kurz stated that she has used up to Sh2 million on Mshenga and his accomplices, and she is now frustrated.
She added that the relevant authorities whom she has approached have not been able to assist her, as she expressed hope of getting help after the media aired her story.
All the promises that were made to her were kicked out the window-including a promise to have a seat down with the governor.
“I have used around two million, and I want my money back. It has now been two years. We have not gotten help everywhere we went seeking it, and we hope to be helped now by sharing our story,” she stated.
The German national has documents that indicate that she paid for the single business permit for the Juel’s Sunrise Beach Restaurant.
This is part of the controversies that have marred Governor Achani’s administration.
An activist who is privy to the matter has asked the German to write to the Ombudsman office, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, and other relevant investigative bodies.
“We know that the Ombudsman is a public defender, a grievance man, a watchman over the law’s watchmen, a voice of the citizen, and a citizen’s counsellor. Essentially, the Ombudsman protects citizens against injustices committed by civil officials.
Further investigations reveal that more foreign citizens visiting for the first time have fallen prey to unscrupulous and corrupt Kwale County officials who invoke Governor Achani’s name in the bid to swindle money.
Many contractors and suppliers have accused senior county officials of asking for a huge amount of money before the work is done.
Shockingly, after Yusuf Salim Surayahani wrote a request to the county executive committee member for roads and public works, Mr. Ali Mwachirumbi Joto, to request approval, he was granted it on February 8, 2023.
According to documents in our possession, Kurz paid all the county levies, including the permit.
Kwale County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Water Services, Hemed Mwabudzo, was recently under intense pressure as Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) moved a motion to impeach him over allegations of corruption and diversion of development funds.
Mwabudzo has clashed repeatedly with MCAs and investigative agencies, with legislators accusing him of mismanaging county resources.
Tensions have also emerged between Mwabudzo and several county chief officers, with claims that he is advancing personal interests while reducing some officials to mere “spanner boys” within the administration.
An MCA privy to the impeachment motion alleged that Mwabudzo, in collusion with finance department officials led by Bakari Hasan Sebe, has deliberately diverted funds meant for county projects.
“The money allocated to the water department has ended up in the pockets of individuals who supplied nothing at all, yet access to water remains a major challenge in Kwale,” the MCA stated.
The legislator further revealed that the impeachment motion had already been tabled, with discussions set to resume once MCAs return from Nairobi.
Despite mounting pressure, Mwabudzo and finance officials are said to have held multiple meetings to counter the push for removal, as MCAs accuse some officers of shielding corrupt officials from accountability.
At the same time, most contractors in Kwale remain unpaid, while others have raised concerns over excessive extortion by finance officers.
Investigative reports indicate that the county government recently rushed to approve a payment work plan for a staff insurance company, with allegations of kickbacks dominating the process.
MCAs have also threatened to impeach additional CECMs in a bid to curb graft, estimating that the county loses over Ksh 400 million annually to corruption cartels
Recently, the Controller of Budget, Margaret Nyakang’o, accused MCAs of colluding with governors to syphon county funds instead of fulfilling their oversight role.
Speaking in Nairobi during the County Assemblies Forum, Nyakang’o called on MCAs to focus on accountability, warning that county funds were being mismanaged.
“We know that MCAs are now colluding with governors to compromise oversight and delay development. We are inflating contracts and allocating little to actual projects,” she stated.
The Controller of Budget had earlier flagged underperformance in the county’s revenue collection, which stood at Ksh 285.34 million against an annual target of Ksh 600 million, representing only 47.6 percent of the expected revenue.
Other executive committee members on the spot are Bakari Hassan Sebe and Francisca Kilonzo.
